in HERMIT HOMES 109 



down the tunnel a stick or straw, which it clutches as 

 in a vice. In France children fasten a fly, or ant, to 

 the thread, or stick, that they poke down the nest, 

 but this is quite a superfluous addition, for it is anger 

 and not hunger that incites the cricket to grasp the 

 intruding object. The largest known species (A. 

 monstrosa) are natives of India, and make burrows 

 sometimes three feet deep. 



No solitary insects surpass spiders in house-build- 

 ing. Many of their homes are not merely intended 

 for the rearing of their young, but are homes in the 

 true sense of the word, where they reside day after 

 day, and to which apparently they become fondly 

 attached. They consist chiefly of burrows in the 

 ground. Even in England we may come across 

 little specimens tunnelled out in some sandy soil, 

 and lined with silky membranous tubes to 

 prevent the earth from falling in. From the 

 mouth a web is spread to catch the prey, while the 

 hunter lies concealed at the bottom, waiting for the 

 approach and capture of victims in the snare above. 

 The finest simple spider tunnels belong to the 

 Mygalides, a family of the tropics that comprise the 

 gigantic creatures of their tribe. Several species of 

 the genus Mygale have great hairy bodies, almost 

 as large as sparrows, and an expanse of limb no less 

 than half a foot and more. One very robust fellow, 

 Mygale blondii by name, a great burrower, forms 

 a broad slanting tunnel some two feet deep, and the 

 sides are lined with a silken coating. This spider is 

 nocturnal, and may be seen at sunset occasionally 

 at the mouth of its den, keeping watch for passing 



