402 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWOKK. 



4. , . 



spots, and therefore work most in the places which vermin most infest, 

 but which are likely to be passed by other destroying agents. 



We thus see that man is not only indebted to Arachne for protection to 

 his own personal safety and comfort, but also for the protection of his for- 

 ests, fruit orchards, gardens, and fields. Indeed, the whole vegetable world 

 may well join with man in a tribute of gratitude to a creature whose 

 service is so eminently useful. 



Surely, in view of these facts, we need not hesitate, through fear of 

 being charged with undue enthusiasm, to declare the spider a universal 

 philanthropist. She labors unceasingly to check the increase of a 

 Arachne h orc j e o f tiny insect enemies which else would banish the hu- 

 ., . . man species from many parts of the earth. Nor does she make 

 reprisals of any sort for all this service. She never attacks fields, 

 harvests, vineyards, and orchards, like beetles, grasshoppers, and various 

 other insects in the perfect and larval state; she never forages upon the 

 goodies in ladies' kitchens and pantries, as do roaches and ants; she does not 

 torment and afflict by cutting, piercing, sawing, and pumping, by buzzing, 

 humming, and blowing, like the mosquito and house fly, to say nothing of 

 less desirable denizens' of the entomological kingdom. An occasional (and 

 doubtful) "spider bite" one does hear of at rare intervals; a harmless cob- 

 web here and there in a cranny or corner of one's house, that is all that 

 can be charged against her. Yet this useful aranead is despised, abhorred, 

 persecuted, and slain with a zest that is hardly shown against any other 

 creature, except the snake. No; man is not a "natural" enemy of the 

 spider, but an enemy by a culture most unnatural and unreasonable. What 

 stupid ingrates men are often found ! " What fools these mortals be ! " 



X. 



This subject could not be held complete without reference to the rela- 

 tion which undoubtedly exists between the facts which the chapter un- 

 covers and many of those interesting habits described in this 

 Influence vo i ume an d elsewhere. That the instincts and industry of spiders 

 . ne ~ are in a large degree protective will not admit of dispute. It is 

 Industry, certainly a reasonable theory that they have in part, at least, arisen 

 or been modified by that fact. That is to say, the original en- 

 dowments of the creature have been enlarged and varied by the peculiar 

 perils with which successive generations have had to contend. 



We have already anticipated the influence of enemies in developing the 

 industrial habits of spiders, in the chapter on Nesting Habits and Protective 

 Architecture. (Vol. I., Chapter XVII., pages 307-309.) By referring to the 

 summary of the various forms of tents there described, the importance of 

 this influence, particularly in the case of Orbweavers, will be noted. It 

 appears that Orbweavers live continually in dread of enemies, and that 



