THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 33 



them, especially as there was no one likely to interfere with 

 their webs by the use of dusting-brush or otherwise. 



Sept. 8th. — One of the Epeirae having constructed a web 

 on a lower pane, I determined to make some experiments 

 with it: accordingly, by way of commencement, I placed a 

 dead house-fly, just killed for the purpose, in the upper part 

 of the web, close to the spider, which, however, took no 

 notice of it during the whole afternoon. In the evening I 

 tried once more, this time placing a living fly in the centre of 

 the web, but with the same result, although the fly in its 

 struggles shook every portion of the net. Thinking that my 

 presence had something to do with the cause of such apathy, 

 I turned down the gas to await the result. In a few seconds 

 1 heard the sound of the fly's wings, so I turned up the light 

 at once, but immediately the spider made off, leaving the fly 

 to continue its struggles again. Seeing the effect either of 

 the light or of my presence, 1 again lowered the gas ; but, 

 after wailing some time without any apparent result, I raised 

 the light, and to ray surprise saw the spider feeding on the 

 dead fly, which had been neglected during the greater part of 

 the day ; but it ran back to its hole as before. 



Sept. 13th. — During the last few days the Epeira has 

 refused to eat or take any notice whatever of a fly, so I turned 

 it out to see whether it would return or not to its abode, 

 which I preserved intact. But it never has returned, and the 

 web remains unoccupied. Then I turned my attention to a 

 small colony on the upper panes of the window, and finding 

 a very small straw-coloured spider, in a large irregular web, 

 I tested its capabilities by putting a living fly in the middle 

 of the meshes, with the following result : almost before my 

 hand had left the fly the little spider ran down, and with its 

 falces seized its prey's fore leg by the foot, and, fixing itself 

 firmly, held on until the struggles of the fly had ceased so far 

 as to enable it to complete the capture by the additional 

 security of a few threads. My next experiment, with another 

 very small spider of a dirty brown colour, was more interest- 

 ing. It had a very small web in the lower corner of a pane 

 in the middle of the window, and with some diflSculty I 

 entangled the legs of a fly in it, but its weight and struggles 

 caused it to fall over the ledge, where it hung suspended by 

 the fore legs. I left it alone to see what steps the spider 



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