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INSECTS ARACHNIDA DIAGRAM i . 



exactly knowing why. They cannot generally do much harm, but 

 several spiders have curved hooks at the mouth, which are 

 furnished, like the teeth of the viper, with a venomous 

 apparatus. However, our largest species cannot cause very 

 dangerous wounds, but this is not the case in hot countries, where 

 they are found as large as mice. The spider is one of those 

 animals, whose habits are very interesting to those who like to 

 observe them closely, and it is easy to do this. To seize their 

 prey, they spin nets, but they do not produce their silk by the 

 mouth as in insects. It is by the extremity of the abdomen 

 that the spider spins. When it is about to spin its web 

 anywhere, it experiences great difficulty in attaching the first 



Spider's Web. 



threads. This done the work proceeds quickly enough, and when 

 it is not interfered with, the web is perfectly regular. It often 

 makes a shelter near the web in addition, where it watches for the 

 prey which may become entangled. As soon as a fly has touched 

 the web, the spider darts out, seizes it and sucks its juices ; then 



