712 THE CHIGO, OR SAND-FLEA, 



the black lump crumbled to pieces. The process was a curi- 

 ous sight to witness. Then,, in a leisurely way, the spiders 

 scattered themselves to their aerial fishing. The air swarmed 

 with mosquitoes, which were caught in great numbers. Larger 

 flies, and especially moths, were at once pounced upon and 

 devoured ; a dozen often feeding amicably on the body of the 

 same insect, consuming not only the juices, but the abdomen. 

 When a part of the web was broken, the nearest spider 

 gathered up the loose threads, rolled them into a ball, and ate 

 it. The great difficulty seemed to be how they could convey 

 the first thread, often sixty or seventy feet long, from one tree 

 to the other. This was done by a spider from a tree to wind- 

 ward forming a long line, which blew out and caught in the 

 leaves of a neighbouring tree to leeward. This it tightened, 

 and then crossed hastily backwards and forwards on the line, 

 adding to its thickness on each journey, till it was strong 

 enough to support a web. The spiders thus employed were 

 apparently all young, for as they increased in age the ferocity 

 of the race appeared. There was then a sanguinary battle, 

 the few survivors, probably females, devouring some of the 

 slain to provide for a future brood, and then dying also. 



THE CHIGO, OR SAND-FLEA. 



Mr. Masterman makes some interesting remarks on the 

 chigo, or sand-flea (Pulex penetrans). It is very minute, not 

 exceeding one twenty-fifth of an inch in length. It burrows 

 between the cuticle and true skin, and there lays its eggs 

 producing a swelling containing a bluish white sac, about the 

 tenth of an inch in diameter, filled with them. This sac is 

 the developed abdomen of the flea. It preserves its vitality 

 after the death of the rest of the parent ; and when that event 



