302 



KNOWLEDGE. 



IDecember 1, 1897. 



" Go away ; I don't waut any more ! 

 more than an hour, when I went away 



Fig. 10. — Tlie Spider diajging the Blowfly 

 throuoli a rent in the side of the Silken TuVe 



She held on for 

 The next morning 

 I found that she 

 had thrown out 

 five of the old 

 skins of the flies, 

 and the remain- 

 ing four followed 

 the morning after. 

 All kinds of in- 

 sects are thank- 

 fully received by 

 the trap -door 

 spider, who some- 

 times has to go 

 without food for 

 a long time. 

 During winter 

 the ai-rial part of 

 the tube is much 

 ilittened by snow 

 — so much so that 

 on the return of 

 spring the spider 

 is unable to dis- 

 tend it, and so 

 starts another. 

 She therefore 

 f^rras another aerial portion, and tl.us makes a forked 

 lube. I once found one having no less than five airial 

 tubes. This fact caused me to think that the trap-door 

 f pider lived to a great ag3. 



The garden spider hatches from the egg in April, mates 



in August, lays her sack 

 of eggs in September, 

 and dies, thus making 

 the cycle of her life not 

 much re ore than six 

 months. I have kept in- 

 d.vidual female trap-door 

 spiders for seven nenrs! 

 Some of these were any- 

 :hing but babies when I 

 i'.rst caught them. Owing 

 to my nomadic habits I 

 1 ave not yet been able 

 to hatch a brood and 

 carry the members 

 1 lirough their natural 

 lives ; but now, having 

 greater facilities, hope 

 to settle this question. 

 Once I kept a female 

 alive two years and a 

 half fl/V'V she had brought 

 up and turned out a 

 family of only one hun- 

 dred and twenty ! I had 

 not the opportunity of 

 finding a second husband 

 for her, so she died in 

 widowhood. 

 After the male spider has reached maturity he becomes a 

 wanderer for a time, but not for long ; he soon finds the 

 nests of the female. The courtship of these spiders is 

 interesting to watch. This I was enabled to do by fiUmg 

 a glass jar with sand rammed very tight. I then inserted 

 a piece of cane, driving it down close to the side ; with- 

 drawing it, I polished the glass side of the hole made, and 



FiQ. 11.- 



-The Spid;r retires with 

 its Prev. 



turned in a large female, which did not make herself at 

 home for some time ; and from her inability to obtain soft 

 sand she was obliged to leave the silken lining semi- 

 transparent, which enabled me to see all her actions. 



This one was in a lart^'e bell glass — all alone. Having 

 been fortunate in digging a number of immature males, I 

 reared them to maturity, and placed one on the sand in the 

 bell glass. The spider trundled round until its toe came 

 into contact with the atrial part of the nest of the female. 

 In a moment the male seemed aware of the fact, and after 

 a short pause commenced to beat a kind of serenade upon 

 the outside of this tube. This was kept up for some time, 

 no notice being taken of it from the inside ; but had a fly 

 engaged in such rhapsody it would have paid the penalty 

 Avith its life. Not so the male ; he continued his tattoo 

 until, growing impatient, ho deliberately tore open the 

 rest with his long fangs and quietly descended. The next 

 day the rent was properly mended. The pair lived to- 

 gether for nearly six months ; then a terrible tragedy was 

 (nacted in the semi-darkness of the deep burrow. I saw 

 the female dart her fancrs into the head of her husband — 



Fig. 12. — The Spiderlings departing. 



then she <ite him ! carrying up and throwing out from 

 the ai'dal part his tough old head, etc. ! Soon after she 

 ascended to the enhirged part of the nest (see Fig. 1) 

 and there formed her wonderful hammock of eggs — the 

 maternal instinct returning as soon as she had her family 

 to look afcer. 



In April the spiderlings begin to emerge. The first one 

 ascending any grass stem, runs out to the tip of a leaf 

 and stretches its delicate silken thread from the tube to 

 the tip, then returns to the main stem and mounts it 

 right to the top, from which it again pulls up tight the 

 silken rope from the leaf ; then it amuses itself by swinging 

 and running about. Meanwhile the second spiderling has 

 emerged, and, finding a silken ladder stretched from the 

 hole, it ascends, continuing its upward journey until it 

 arrives at the top. During its ascent it has also left a 

 silken cord behind, adding strength to the first. The 

 third does the same, and so on, until most of the family 

 has passed out on this original ladder of silk. Some of 

 them, however, prefer to remain nearer home, and form 

 their tiny burrows close to their late home. ( Ve Fig. 12 

 on the right.) So long as the spiders are swinging about, 



