154 SPIDERS 



The weight of insects destroyed each year by spiders in England 

 and Wales must well exceed the total weight of the human 

 population! 



General behaviour 



Spiders are seen in different lights by different people, but the 

 superstitions regarding them, in both primitive and civilised 

 countries, are extremely numerous. Bristowe (1945), who has 

 written an interesting review of spider folklore, concludes that on 

 the whole they are venerated and for a number of reasons. These 

 include admiration for the spiders' skill as spinners of silk, 

 admiration for their wisdom and cunning, fear of their venomous 

 and sinister qualities, association of spiders with religious beliefs — 

 in particular, that in spiders reside the spirits of the dead — belief 

 in their ability to foretell and influence the weather, in their medi- 

 cinal properties, and in the knowledge of the part they play in 

 destroying insects. 



Not all of these have given rise to superstitions, but the first 

 four in particular provide the raw materials for folk tales as a result 

 of which the spider's power for good and evil has become tradi- 

 tional throughout a large part of the world. In particular there is a 

 widespread legend of a fugitive who escaped his pursuers because 

 a spider built a web across the mouth of his hiding place so that 

 they thought he could not possibly be concealed therein. Among 

 others this story has been told of the Infant Christ, who was thus 

 saved from Herod, David, who escaped from the wrath of Saul, 

 Mohammed from the Coreishites, and Yoritomo, a twelfth- 

 century Japanese hero, who hid in a hollow tree and was saved by 

 a spider in similar fashion. Another and more famous myth is the 

 ancient Greek story of Arachne, who, although deprived of her 

 human form by Athene (Minerva) for daring to challenge the God- 

 dess of Wisdom to a spinning contest, was nevertheless left with 

 her skill as a spinner. This story is probably the origin of many 

 superstitions which have survived in European countries although 

 the myth itself has been forgotten. Thus there is a widespread 

 belief that a spider found running over one's clothes has come to 

 spin new ones: as a natural consequence of this it is unlucky to kill 

 a spider. Whether the term 'money spider' should be applied to 



