THE WATER SPIDER — CADDIS FLIES. 401 



bubble is seized. The little creature then descends more rapidly 

 and regains its cell, always by the same route, turns the abdomen 

 within it, and disengages the bubble. 



"No. 4. Several of them, when I received them, had the hair 

 on the abdomen wetted, and I placed them on some blotting- 

 paper until they were dry. On returning them to the water, two 

 remained underneath a floating piece of cork, and the hair, being 

 now dry, retained the pellicle of air which is ordinarily observed. 

 One of the two came out of the water, attached the cork to the 

 glass, and wove a web against the latter, against which it rested 

 about a quarter of an inch above the surface of the water. After 

 remaining there about two days it resumed its aquatic habits, 

 and, like all others, formed its winter habitation." 



Water Spiders are now familiar to us on account of the wide- 

 spread fashion for aquaria, but so thoroughly have the ditches and 

 streams been ransacked by professional dealers that the creature 

 has become quite rare in spots where it was once plentiful. 



The Water Spider places her eggs in this cell, spinning a saucer- 

 shaped cocoon, and fixing it against the inner side of the cell and 

 near the top. In this cocoon are about a hundred eggs, of a 

 spherical shape, and very small. The cell is a true home for the 

 spider, which passes its earliest days under the water, and, when it 

 is strong enough to construct a sub-aquatic home for itself, brings 

 its prey to the cell before eating it. 



The color of the Water Spider is brown, with a grayish surface 

 caused by the thick growth of hair which covers the body, and 

 with a very slight tinge of red on the cephalothorax. The reader 

 must not confound this creature with another Arachnid that is 

 sometimes called the Water Spider {Hydrachna cruenta), and is of 

 a bright scarlet color, with a peculiar velvety surface. 



There is an order of insects which is especially dear to anglers; 

 not so much to fly-fishers, as to those who like to sit and look at 

 a float for several consecutive hours. This order is scientifically 

 termed Trichoptera, or Hair-winged insects, and the various 

 species of which it is composed are classed together under the 

 familiar title of Caddis Flies. 



These insects may always be known by the peculiar leather} - 

 aspect of the body, and by the coating of hair with which the 

 wings are covered, the long hairs being spread over the whole 

 surface, and standing boldly out like a fringe round the edge. 



Cc 



