294 ZOOLOGY. [Part II. 



CHAP. VII. 



AEACHNIDA MYRIOPODA CRUSTACEA, ETC. 



With a few striking exceptions, the true spiders of 

 Ceylon resemble in ceconomy and appearance those we 

 are accustomed to see at home. They frequent the 

 houses, the gardens, the rocks and the stems of trees, 

 and along the sunny paths, where the forest meets the 

 open country, the Epeira and her congeners, the true 

 net-weaving spiders, extend their lacework, the grace of 

 their designs being even less attractive than the beauty 

 of the creatm-es that elaborate them. 



Those that live in the woods select with sino;ular 

 sagacity the bridle-paths and narrow passages for ex- 

 panding their nets ; no doubt perceiving that the larger 

 insects frequent these openings for facihty of movement 

 through the jungle ; and that the smaller ones are car- 

 ried towards them by the currents of air. These nets 

 are stretched across the path fi^om four to eight feet 

 above the ground, hung from projecting shoots, and 

 attached, if possible, to thorny shrubs ; and sometimes 

 exliibit the most remarkable scenes of carnage and 

 destruction. I have taken down a baU as large as a 

 man's head consisting of successive layers rolled together, 

 in the heart of which was the den of the family, whilst 

 the envelope was formed, sheet after sheet, by coils of 

 the old web fiUed with the wings and hmbs of insects 

 of all descriptions, from the largest moths and butter- 

 flies to mosquitoes and minute coleoptera. Each layer 

 appeared to have been originally suspended across the 

 passage to intercept the expected prey ; and, as it be- 

 came surcharged with carcases, it was loosened, tossed 



