Tlie Bionomics of South African Insects. 327 



towards one of them but retreatetl again, " recognizing that 

 it had been disturbed by a creature such as had never 

 before fallen into the web." The same thing was again 

 repeated on four occasions, the spider never actually 

 attacking a caterpillar. Agclena laliyrintJiica was then 

 tried in the same way, but would not leave its retreat; 

 when, however, an earwig was substituted for the larva, it 

 was instantly seized and devoured. 



On the other hand, Professor Plateau has produced evi- 

 dence that the imago of the Ahnixas is freely eaten by 

 Tcgcnaria domestica. Nearly every day for some weeks 

 he placed this moth, sometimes on one, sometimes on 

 another of three or four webs of this spider spun in a little 

 tool-house in his garden. They were always seized and 

 carried off. 



Agclena lahyrintldca, on the other hand, killed the moth 

 but abandoned it after some attempts to suck its juices. 

 Professor Plateau suggests that the spider found the prey 

 too large for it, an interpretation which might have been 

 advanced had the attempt to capture and kill been unsuc- 

 cessful; but, as the case stands, serves to show that the 

 author is willing to accept any explanation however im- 

 probable rather than the obvious one that there was 

 sometliing in the taste or smell of the moth which pre- 

 vented the spider from devouring it. 



A half-grown female EiJcira diaclema devoured the moth 

 with avidity. It is to be hoped that this experiment will 

 be repeated many times, as in the case of the Tegenaria ; 

 and in all such researches comparison should be constantly 

 made with the behaviour of the spiders towards many other 

 kinds of insects. 



It is quite probable from the experiments of Mr, Marshall 

 and Professor Plateau, and the observations of the late Mr. 

 T, Belt, that certain species of spiders, together with Man- 

 tides and other predaceous insects, will be found to be 

 among the chief, perhaps the chief, non-parasitic enemies of 

 aposematic insects. 



Colonel J. W. Yerbury has kindly searched his notes for 

 any references to the attacks of spiders on butterflies. He 

 writes, " I can find very few references to the relations of 

 these two animals to each other in my old notes. The 

 following are two of them : — 



" 'Aden, ? date.— A large green flower-haunting spider 

 resting on a dried-up plant was preying on a female 



