The South Australian Naturalist. 11 



care, as one must not injure it. Previous experience lias taught 

 me how sensitive the creature is to pain, and if only slightly 

 crushed, or if a leg be damaged in the capture, one will not get 

 the best results from observations of the spider in captivity. 



Imprisoned in a 12 x 12 box, with a gauze door covering 

 the whole of the front of it, I have my captive under observa- 

 tion. This time it is one of those large hairy spiders one 

 frequently discovers running up the wall of a shed or outhouse, 

 situated amongst the trees of the garden ; especially if at night 

 a light is lit suddenly near a wall in a verandah or such place. 

 Most people, on seeing the poor thing, strike it down with a 

 towel or any other convenient tl»ing, and crush it underfoot. 

 The same person complains bitterly of the mosquito at night, 

 and next day he is doing his utmost to keep the house free 

 from flies, while only the previous evening he has killed a 

 valuable ally, and one who won't spin a web to disfigure the 

 recesses in the mason work or rooms. This large Arthopod is 

 for the most part nocturnal. I have, on rare occasions, seen it 

 take flies in daylight, and it frequently comes out to sun itself ; 

 that is, of course, in its natural habitat. But in captivity it is, 

 so far as my observations are concerned, strietlj^ nocturnal. It 

 can make wonderful fasts, and more wonderful meals. A week 

 is rather too long to leave it without food ; but I have kept food 

 away from it for four days to try and induce it to take a moth 

 of the Cutworm family, and although it will greedily seize and 

 devour four small butterflies of the Lycinidae family, never 

 missing a particle, cramming wings and all into its mouth, it 

 merely killed the moth, and I can hardly perceive any evidence 

 of it having as much as sucked it. A large green fly. Dipterous 

 (I think the kind parasitical to the vine moth, Chacrocampa 

 celius), lived for two days and nights with the spider un- 

 molested, but was eaten the third night. The hive bee lived 

 even longer, then was killed and partly eaten. Termites were 

 killed only; meat flies killed and eaten. When I have intro- 

 duced the common house flies, Musca domestica, along with 

 other insects, the house flies are always taken first. Mosquitoes 

 are also a favourite morsel. The spider, like the owl, never 

 swallows what is bad for its digestion. It rejects the remains 

 of the insect in a tiny pellet containing the exoskeleton and 

 wings. So it seems from these observations this large and 

 awe-inspiring, but harmless, spider is a very useful creature, 

 roaming about the wall and fences, and even inside the house 

 after dark. It is an adept at catching the sleeping flies, and 



