360 THE KNTOMOLOGIST. 



from sunset till a little after sunrise, the six containing 

 I sboiild say two thousand of them altogether. But they 

 often changed their location, and a double stream was always 

 passing along the cables, apparently strengthening them as 

 they came and went; and sometimes three or four would be 

 lying in wait within a few inches of each other, but I 

 noticed they always gave the lines a quick impatient shake 

 whenever a companion left the main rigging, which were the 

 public gangways, and ventured on to the lighter threads. In 

 passing they crawled over or under each other without hesi- 

 tation, unlike beetles or ants, which always pause when they 

 meet. 



Soon after sunrise they left their webs, and, retreating to 

 the shade, formed two or three large masses, as big as a hat, 

 under the thick foliage of the jasmine; there they remained 

 motionless till sunset, when the black lump crumbled to 

 pieces, — it was a curious sight to see the process, — and then, 

 in a leisurely way, the spiders scattered themselves to their 

 aerial fishing. The air swarmed with mosquitoes, which 

 were caught in great numbers, but were too small game, and 

 remained on the threads till hastily swept away by the 

 spiders ; for they made the webs conspicuous. The larger 

 flies, and especially the moths, were at once pounced upon 

 and devoured by the nearest spider or several of them ; and 

 I have often seen half a dozen feeding amicably together on 

 the body of the same insect. 



1 also satisfied myself that they are not content with 

 merely sucking the juices of their prey, but devour the soft 

 parts altogether: of moths they would leave but the wings, 

 of beetles all but the abdomen. Their fangs and jaws are 

 greatly developed (I have several times allowed them to 

 strike the former into my finger, but I felt no pain beyond 

 the slight pain as they entered), and are well suited for 

 tearing and comminuting. 



Another peculiarity is that they swallow every part of 

 their web that may be broken by the wind. If such an 

 accident occurred, the nearest spider gathered up the loose 

 threads, rolled them into a bale and immediately ate it. I 

 have arrested them in the act, and found that the silk had 

 been abundantly moistened with clear saliva preparatory to 

 bolting it, I was long puzzled by the difficulty, how was the 



