SPIDERS' NESTS, ETC. 185 



They have eight eyes arranged in transverse 

 rows. Their legs are long and hairy. The 

 female carries the egg-pouch about with her, 

 attached to the end of her body till the young 

 are hatched, when they climb on her back. To 

 this family belongs the famous spider Lycosa 

 tarentula (Linn.). Its bite was supposed in 

 Italy to bring on a fit of melancholia that 

 could only be cured by the tune known as the 

 Tarantella. 



The nests of some of these spiders are hardly 

 less curious than are those of the Trap-door 

 Spiders. Of these a North American species, 

 Lycosa arenicola (Scudder), makes a structure 

 resembling a huge bird's-nest or small turret 

 over the entrance to the tube. Some of the 

 Lycosidae frequent water and are able to pursue 

 their prey on it or in it. The Dolomodes fim- 

 briatus (Clerck) actually constructs a small 

 raft, on which it sails about. 



Connected with the life-history of the Lycosa 

 is an interesting insect, the Mantispa. In the 

 spring, when these spiders have formed their 



bags of eggs, the minute larvae of the Mantispa 



12* 



