The Life of the Spider 



some one else's: it is all the same to them. 

 I come upon a Banded Epeira, newly im- 

 ported, making for the web of a Silky Epeira 

 who has been my guest for some days since. 

 The owner is at her post, in the centre of the 

 net. She awaits the stranger with seeming 

 impassiveness. Then suddenly they grip each 

 other; and a desperate fight begins. The 

 Silky Epeira is worsted. The other swathes 

 her in bonds, drags her to the non-limy central 

 floor and, in the calmest fashion, eats her. 

 The dead Spider is munched for twenty-four 

 hours and drained to the last drop, when the 

 corpse, a wretched, crumpled ball, is at last 

 flung aside. The web so foully conquered be- 

 comes the property of the stranger, who uses 

 it, if it have not suffered too much in the 

 contest. 



There is here a shadow of an excuse. The 

 two Spiders were of different species; and the 

 struggle for life often leads to these exter- 

 minations among such as are not akin. What 

 would happen if the two belonged to the same 

 species? It is easily seen. I cannot rely upon 

 spontaneous invasions, which may be rare 

 under normal conditions, and I myself place a 

 Banded Epeira on her kinswoman's web. A 

 322 



