Habits of the Epeira Aurelia. 463 



days, according to circumstances ; but, unlike the house-spider's, 

 this web is never repaired. 



When finished, the spider suspends itself by a double attach- 

 ment from the centre of the under side ; that is to say, it at- 

 taches its abdomen by a line, and it holds on with its legs ; and 

 so, if it should get alarmed, it can at once let go its hold with 

 its legs, and, after dropping a foot or two, stop, without falling 

 far enough to get injured by striking the ground underneath; and 

 this power that it has of suddenly stopping in its fall shows, I 

 think, that the fluid from which the thread is made has the 

 singular property of drying instantaneously. 



In the middle of their webs, the spiders constantly hang, with 

 their head downwards, waiting patient and motionless until acci- 

 dent shall have brought some kind of prey into their snare. 



Their sensitiveness to the struggles of a captured insect is 

 quite astonishing ; for, without seeing or going near to it, the 

 spiders are at once aware if the insect is unsuited to them, and, 

 should such be the case, they either let it alone or by violent jerks 

 shake it off. Again, when a gale of wind is blowing, and one 

 would imagine that all other motion would be absorbed in the 

 tremendous agitation of the web, the spider immediately knows 

 when a fly is caught, and hurries down to seize it, at the risk of 

 being blown away itself. 



Should a wasp, bee, or other formidable creature be captured, 

 they approach cautiously, keeping it at arm's length; then 

 spreading out their spinnerets to get a broader thread, wind the 

 insect round and round, till it is encased like a mummy, and 

 can no longer offer resistance, and then triumphantly carry it 

 off to the centre of the web, where they always devour their 

 food. 



The most formidable thing I ever saw one of them conquer 

 was a very large humble bee, so much heavier than the spider 

 that the web could only just sustain its weight. The Epeira did 

 not hesitate, however, but at once walked down to it, rolled it 

 up, and in a very short time put an end to its struggles and its 

 life. 



It is remarkable that the spider is never attracted to anything 

 which does not move, and consequently never eats what it has 

 not itself killed. If two insects happen to be caught at the same 

 time, one is first rolled up, then a line attached from it to the 

 centre of the web, and then the other is treated in precisely the 

 same way ; but no insect is ever rolled up without having a line 

 made from it to the centre of the web, and this line unerringly 

 and at once leads the spider to the prey it may have captured 

 hours ago. As far as my observations go, I believe that spiders 

 generally are guided much more by the sense of feeling than of 



