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CHAPTER XIII. 



WATER-INSECTS. 



AKGYKONETA AQUATICA. — ITS NESTS UNDER WATEE. — DEPOSITION OF 

 EGGS. — GENERAL HABITS. — DTTICUS MARGINALIS. — AIR INVESTITURE. — 

 BREATHING. — LARVA. — FEEDING. 



The Argyroneta, Plate XVIII._, is a curious, darkly-coloured 

 Spider, common in many parts of Prance, England, Ger- 

 many, and Switzerland ; very remarkable for its habit of 

 plunging into and living under the water. It differs in this 

 respect from ordinary Spiders, as well as in the fact of the 

 male being larger than the female. As the abdomen is co- 

 vered by a kind of fur, which repels the water and prevents 

 the skin from getting wet when the animal is under 

 water, therefore its body or abdomen is covered with a 

 bubble of air, which has the appearance of a silver pellicle, 

 and suffices for respiration in the absence of branchial 

 opercula. Thus supplied with breathing apparatus, they 



