132 SPIDERS 



to set off on their first adventurous journey by air. In the spring 

 and in the early autumn quantities of these tiny aeronauts may 

 often be seen crowding on the tops of walls and fences preparing 

 for their flight. 



When about to set out on its aerial journey the young spider 

 faces the wind and straightens out all its eight legs, raising its body 

 as high as it can in the air. Then from its spinnerets it begins to 

 pay out a long, continuous thread of silk which is borne lightly 

 away on the breeze. As soon as the little creature feels, by the 

 pull of the silk, that its craft is strong enough to bear its weight, 

 it grasps the threads with its legs and lets itself go, and is wafted 

 away to new ground. 



Before reaching maturity a spider usually goes through about 

 nine moults. Casting the skin is often a considerable effort to the 

 animal, and in its struggles it occasionally loses a limb ; but this 

 is not such a serious matter to a spider, for it has the power of 

 reproducing lost parts, and at the next moult the limb will be 

 replaced by a new though somewhat smaller one. 



The mating customs of spiders are often very curious, and 

 courtship in many species is fraught with considerable danger to 

 the little male, Who is almost invariably a great deal smaller than 

 the female, for if the lady does not approve of his advances she 

 is almost certain to devour her admirer. Among the Epeirida 

 (the Orb-weavers) the difference in size is most extraordinary, the 

 female in some cases being a thousand times greater in bulk than 

 her tiny mate. In some species, however, the male, although 

 smaller in body, has a greater length of leg than the female, and 

 he is often much more brilliantly coloured and sometimes adorned 

 with wonderful plumes and brushes, the better to please the eye 

 of his savage mate. 



Male spiders appear to be greatly outnumbered by the females, 

 and this is actually the case to a certain extent ; but the smaller 

 size, the restless habits and comparatively short life of the males 

 render them much less noticeable than the large and sedentary 

 females. In the mating season the males suddenly appear in 

 numbers, and may be seen lurking on the borders of the snares 

 woven by the females. They will wander timidly round and 

 round the domain of the lady for hours before they dare venture 

 to set foot on the lowest rings of her web, and a sudden move- 



