184 THE WONDERS OF INSTINCT 



To bind the subject with precision and dispatch nothing 

 could be better than this inexpensive and highly effective 

 method. 



Less frequently, a second process is employed. With 

 a quick movement, the Spider herself turns round about 

 the motionless insect, crossing the web first at the top 

 and then at the bottom and gradually placing the 

 fastenings of her line. The great elasticity of the lime- 

 threads allows the Epeira to fling herself time after time 

 right into the web and to pass through it without damag- 

 ing the net. 



Let us now suppose the case of some dangerous game : 

 a Praying Mantis, for instance, brandishing her lethal 

 limbs, each hooked and fitted with a double saw; an 

 angry Hornet, darting her awful sting; a sturdy Beetle, 

 invincible under his horny armor. These are excep- 

 tional morsels, hardly ever known to the Epeirae. Will 

 they be accepted, if supplied by my stratagems? 



They are, but not without caution. The game is seen 

 to be perilous of approach and the Spider turns her 

 back upon it instead of facing it; she trains her rope- 

 cannon upon it. Quickly the hind-legs draw from the 

 spinnerets something much better than single cords. 

 The whole silk-battery works at one and the same time, 

 firing a regular volley of ribbons and sheets, which a 

 wide movement of the legs spreads fan-wise and flings 

 over the entangled prisoner. Guarding against sudden 

 starts, the Epeira casts her armfuls of bands on the front- 

 and hind-parts, over the legs and over the wings, here, 

 there and everywhere, extravagantly. The most fiery 



