488 insects. 



each side the upper part bjr three white bars. This spider ia one* 

 of those which spring suddenly, to some distance, on their prey. 



Aranea extensa is a smallish species, of a fine green colour, ac- 

 companied by a slight silvery gloss : it is common in gardens, and 

 is almost always seen with the legs extended, in a parallel line 

 with the body. 



Aranea Icevipes is of a grey colour, varied with minute black 

 specks, and with the legs beautifully crossed by numerous alternate 

 black and white bars. 



Aranea palustris is of a lengthened form, and of a brown co- 

 lour, and is principally seen in damp or watery places. 



Aranea aquatica is a middle-sized species, of a deep ehesnut- 

 colour, residing entirely under water, generally in very clear 

 ponds or fountains, and forming for itself a small tissue or web 

 confining a proper quantity of air : sometimes this species is ob- 

 served to take possession of a vacant shell, in which case it closes 

 the mouth with a slight web. 



The exact distinction of species in this genus, especially among 

 the smaller kinds, is often extremely difficult and uncertain ; since 

 the animals are sometimes differently marked during the different 

 periods of their life : some however are in this respect perfectly 

 constant, bearing the same distribution of colours from their first 

 hatching to their latest period. 



The gigantic Aranea avicularia, or Bird-Catching Spider, is too 

 remarkable an insect to be passed over in silence. This enormous 

 spider is not uncommon in many parts of the East Indies and 

 South America ; where it resides among trees, frequently seizing 

 on small birds, which it destroys by wounding with its fangs, and 

 afterwards sucking their blood: the slit or orifice near the tip of 

 the fangs in spiders, through which the poisonous fluid is evacu- 

 ated, and the existence of which has sometimes afforded so much 

 matter of doubt among naturalists, is in this species so visible, that 

 it may be distinctly perceived without the assistance of a glass. 



This animal appears to admit of some varieties, differing both 

 in size and colour ; or rather, it is probable that several species, 

 really distinct, have been often confounded in the works of natu- 

 ralists under one common title. 



During the early part of the last century, a project was enter- 

 tained by a French gentleman, Monsier Bon, of Montpelier, ofinsti- 



