The Life of the Spider 



her own family. The dislodged ones nimbly 

 scramble up the legs and climb on the back of 

 their new mother, who kindly allows them to 

 behave as though they belonged to her. There 

 is no room on the abdomen, the regulation rest- 

 ing-place, which is already occupied by the 

 real sons. The invaders thereupon encamp on 

 the front part, beset the thorax and change the 

 carrier into a horrible pin-cushion that no longer 

 bears the least resemblance to a Spider form. 

 Meanwhile, the sufferer raises no sort of pro- 

 test against this access of family. She placidly 

 accepts them all and walks them all about. 



The youngsters, on their side, are unable to 

 distinguish between what is permitted and 

 forbidden. Remarkable acrobats that they 

 are, they climb on the first Spider that comes 

 along, even when of a different species, pro- 

 vided that she be of a fair size. I place them 

 in the presence of a big Epeira marked with a 

 white cross on a pale-orange ground (Epeira 

 pallida, Oliv.). The little ones, as soon as they 

 are dislodged from the back of the Lycosa 

 their mother, clamber up the stranger with- 

 out hesitation. 



