220 WANDERING SPIDERS. PROWLING SPIDERS. 



of moving sideways. They conduct us towards the web-spin- 

 ning Spiders, in using their silken threads, not only for the 

 construction of habitations for themselves or of envelopes for 

 their eggs, but also for the purpose of entrapping prey. The 

 threads, however, are not arranged with any regularity, but are 

 laid singly. These Spiders generally remain at rest, with the 

 legs spread out, upon the leaves or stems of plants ; running, 

 however, with great rapidity, in pursuit of their prey, when it 

 comes within their reach. Others, however, live in rocky 

 places ; and have the feet so formed, that they can adhere even 

 to very smooth surfaces, in any position of their own bodies. 

 They usually construct very elaborate cocoons for the protection 

 of their eggs. Those which live among plants affix the cocoons 

 to the leaves, and draw together their edges so as to conceal 

 them. Those, on the other hand, which live upon rocks, usually 

 conceal the cocoon within their own dwelling-place ; which is 

 an oval conical tent, something like a Limpet in form, attached 

 at its base to the rock, but having an aperture at each end, 

 furnished with a kind of valve through which the animals go in 

 and out. The outer covering of this tent is composed of a sort 

 of yellowish taffety, thin (like the skin of an onion), but resist- 

 ing ; whilst the inner covering is soft and pliant. 



757. The Spiders of the faniily ERRANTES, or Prowlers, are 

 divided into two groups, chiefly according to the situation in 

 which they throw out the silken lines for the entanglement of 

 their prey. The first tribe, that of NITIDEL^E, contains species 

 that only prolong these threads from their nests, which are 

 formed under stones in holes of walls, the hollows of leaves, and 

 similar situations. These species much resemble those of the 

 last tribe in their habits ; but differ in many points of structure. 

 In the second tribe, the FILITEL^J, the threads are spread 

 about the places, in which these Spiders prowl in pursuit of their 

 prey. Among these, the Clotko, which inhabits Egypt and the 

 South of Europe, is remarkable for the curious habitation which 

 it constructs for its young. This is a kind of limpet-shaped 

 cocoon, about an inch in diameter, of which the circumference 

 has seven or eight festoons ; the points of these festoons being 



