INSECTS — SPIDERS 463 



water-insects and their larvae, and crustaceans. Specimens caught in the Magdalene 

 Cavern near Adelsbergin Carniola, the contents of whose stomachs were examined, 

 contained fresh-water shrimps in all stages of digestion. At pairing-time olras 

 become not only more lively, but more voracious. At this season the males change 

 their skins, and become darker in colour, while clear, round spots appear in two 

 lines on the tail, which is also decorated with a membranous fringe. The 

 skin of the female likewise changes and, probably in consequence of the 

 larger influx of blood, assumes a reddish hue ; a fringe to the tail 

 being also acquired. The females lay eggs f of an inch in diameter, which are 

 fastened separately to the stalactites in the pools of water. About ninety days 

 afterwards the slender tadpoles hatch out. These have a total length of f- of an 

 inch and a tail-length of ■£$ of an inch. The tail is furnished with a large fin-like 

 fringe, extending along three-quarters of the length of the back. As in the adult, 

 the fore-leo-s terminate in three well-developed toes, but there are no toes on the ■ 

 hind-feet. In this state the eyes are functional. The Magdalene Cave nearAdels- 

 berg has been celebrated for its olms since the year 1797 ; but now more than 

 forty such places are known. The majority of the olms kept in confinement come 

 from Adelsberg In the spring, when the Poik, a partly subterranean river, is 

 swollen with snow-water, they are floated into the Magdalene Cave, where, notwith- 

 standing that numbers are exported, they seem as numerous as ever. 



Of some commercial importance is the fact that the branches of 

 a south European oak (Quercus coccifera) form the abode of a 

 cochineal insect, known as kermes to the ancient Greeks and Romans. This insect 

 (Ckermes vermilio), which belongs to the group Rhynchota, is largely exported 

 from Spain and the islands of the ^Egean, and also thrives in numbers near 

 Maina in Greece. Many of the country people, especially shepherds and children, 

 are occupied in the collection of kermes, which is used for dyeing the well-known 

 Turkish fez. The chief supply of cochineal is not, however, obtained from this 

 species but from Coccus cacti, a Central American insect which has been intro- 

 duced into Tenerife, Algeria, Iowa, and Australia. 



Another insect deserving special mention is the praying mantis (Mantis 

 religiosa), the only member of its kind occurring in Europe. The Mantidce form, how- 

 ever, a large group spread over the warmer countries of the globe. The European 

 species, which is from 2 to 3 inches in length, has the peculiar habit of raising its 

 fore-legs and the fore part of the body in order to catch insects passing on the wing. 

 Among the spiders of southern Europe are the trap-door spiders, 

 spiders. wnose naD it ; t ; s to burrow in the ground with their upper jaws, and 

 line their holes with cobwebs, closing them with a cover. One of these, the mason- 

 spider (Nemesia ccementaria), is abundant in the Riviera. Much dreaded in many 

 parts of south Europe is the net-spider (Latrodectes tridecemgwttatus), a black 

 species half an inch in length with thirteen red spots on its abdomen. This species, 

 which spins single threads among stones and hollows, has a bite occasioning 

 dangerous inflammation even in human beings, several Calabrian peasants having 

 died from the effects in 1830 and 1833. On the other hand, the bite of the 

 tarantula (Lycosa tarantula)— named after the town of Tarentum or Taranto— is 

 no more injurious than the sting of a bee. Neither is it in any way the cause of 



