470 HABITATIONS OF INSECTS. 



and female spider and as many as thirty young ones oc- 

 casionally inhabit one of these galleries. — Mygale Sauva- 

 gesii of Rossi, which is a distinct species found in Cor- 

 sica, forms a similar habitation^. 



The galleries just described are the work of an Eu- 

 ropean species not uncommon in the south of France ; 

 but similar ones are fabricated by Thomisus venatorius, 

 an inhabitant of the West India islands, as well as by 

 many other tropical species. I have seen one of these, 

 which had been dug out of the earth, in the cabinet of 

 Thomas Hall, Esq. F.L.S., that was nearly a foot in 

 length, and above an inch in diameter, forming a cylin- 

 drical bag of dark-coloured silk, closed at the bottom, 

 and accurately fitted at the top by a door or lid. 



The habitation o{ Argyroncta aqiiatica, the other spider 

 to which I alluded, is chiefly remarkable for the element 

 in which it is constructed and the materials that compose 

 it. It is built in the midst of water, and formed, in ftict, 

 of air ! Spiders are usually terrestrial, but this is aqua- 

 tic, or rather amphibious ; for though she resides in the 

 midst of water, in which she swims with great celerity, 

 sometimes on her belly but more frequently on her back, 

 and is an admirable diver, she not unfrequently hunts on 

 shore, and, having caught her prey, plunges with it to the 

 bottom of the water. Here it is she forms her singular 

 and unique abode. She would evidently have but a very 

 uncomfortable time were she constantly wet, but this she 

 is sagacious enough to avoid ; and by availing herself of 

 some well-known philosophical principles, she constructs 

 for herself an apartment in which, like the mermaids and 

 sea-nymphs of fable, she resides in comfort and security. 

 ' Lair. Hist. XaL vii. 165. 



