284 The Life of the Spider 



not suit them. If I persuaded them to bite 

 me, what would happen to me ? Hardly any- 

 thing. We have more cause to dread the sting 

 of a nettle than the dagger which is fatal to 

 Dragon-flies. The same virus acts differently 

 upon this organism and that, is formidable here 

 and quite mild there. What kills the insect 

 may easily be harmless to us. Let us not, how- 

 ever, generalize too far. The Narbonne Lycosa, 

 that other enthusiastic insect-huntress, would 

 make us pay dearly if we attempted to take 

 liberties with her. 



It is not uninteresting to watch the Epeira 

 at dinner. I light upon one, the Banded 

 Epeira, at the moment, about three o'clock in 

 the afternoon, when she has captured a Locust. 

 Planted in the centre of the web, on her resting- 

 floor, she attacks the venison at the joint of a 

 haunch. There is no movement, not even of 

 the mouth-parts, as far as I am able to dis- 

 cover. The mouth lingers, close-applied, at 

 the point originally bitten. There are no 

 intermittent mouthfuls, with the mandibles 

 moving backwards and forwards. It is a sort 

 of continuous kiss. 



