244 THE HARMONIES OF NATURE. 



spring, the patient artifice of the lynx, the poison of the adder, 

 and the diving agility of the otter. But if they thus render 

 themselves extremely formidable to the insects, and essentially 

 contribute to keep them within due limits by the destruction 

 they cause among their ranks, they in their turn are exposed to 

 the assaults of numberless enemies. Independently of those 

 which they find in their own class, the centipedes seize them 

 beyond the possibility of escape ; while several species of ichneu- 

 mons and wasps, more savage and poisonous than themselves, 

 will rush upon spiders eight times their size and weight, and 

 benumbing them with their sting, triumphantly bear them off 

 to their nests, to serve as food for their larvae. 



In spite of their citadels, the trapdoor spiders frequently 

 succumb to the ants, the most formidable enemies of their 

 youthful progeny ; and while the water-spiders are hunting the 

 aquatic insects, they themselves are chased by the water-scorpions 

 and the larvae of the dragonfly. 



Several species of monkeys, squirrels, lizards, tortoises, frogs, 

 and toads catch and devour them wherever they can. In the 

 islands of the Indian Archipelago we even find several sparrow- 

 like birds, that have been named arachnotherae, from their 

 living almost exclusively on spiders. Armed with a prodigiously 

 long and arcuated beak, they know how to pursue them and 

 drag them forth from their obscure recesses. 



To resist so many attacks which menace their existence, the 

 spiders have been endowed with a variety of passive defences. 

 Their shy and solitary habits are a safeguard against many 

 dangers. Many feign death and thus deceive the voracity of 

 an enemy or the caution of their prey, while others are enabled 

 by their colour to enjoy the advantages of concealment. Thus 

 those that spend their lives in the trees and bushes are frequently 

 green like the foliage on which they dwell, or brilliantly tinted 

 like the gaily-coloured flowers which serve as their abode; 

 while those which are in the habit of frequenting gloomy places 

 appear in a dark-coloured and dingy garb, harmonizing with 

 their dreary mode of life. 



An exception to the general rule is, however, found in those 

 large and powerful species, which, if not rendered somewhat 

 conspicuous to the sight of other insects, might do too much 

 damage to the tribes which they keep in check, and endanger 



