INSECT WEAPONS AND TOOLS 193 



which serve various purposes in the insect's daily 

 life-work. 



And here I will leave the insect world for a 

 moment, to illustrate the mouth-weapons of the 

 common spider. When a hungry spider attacks 

 a fly as big- as or larger than itself, it exhibits a 



Teeth Teeth 



Fig. 127. Mouth of a spider, showing poison fangs and teeth 



confidence in its own powers which is usually 

 justified by results. Look at the illustration of 

 the spider's mouth in Fig. 127, and note the 

 "business" ends of its chief weapons. These 

 two terrible fangs, opening out from the mouth, 

 are connected with a poison duct in the head of 

 the creature. The method of the spider is first 

 to poison his prey, and then to crush its 

 victim with the apparatus below the fangs, 

 which the illustration well shows ; after which 



N 



