668 THE CINIFLONID^:. 



in the water, yet the moment it emerges from the surface, its hairy body will be found 

 as dry as that of any land spider. The reason for this phenomenon is, that the mi- 

 nute bubbles of air which always cling to the furred body repel the water and prevent 

 it from moistening the skin. 



The eggs of this spider are inclosed in a kind of cap-shaved cocoon, not unlike the 

 cover of a circular vegetable dish. This cocoon may be seen in the illustration in the 

 upper part of the cell. It usually contains about a hundred little spherical eggs, which 

 are not glued together. 



The Water Spider is a truly active creature, and its rapid movements can be 

 watched by means of placing one of these Arachnida in a vessel nearly filled with 

 water. If possible, some water plant, such as the vallisneria, or anacharis, should be 

 also placed in the vessel. Here the spider will soon construct its web, and exhibit its 

 curious habits. It must be well supplied with flies and other insects thrown into the 

 water. It will pounce on them, carry them to its house, and there eat them. 



It is a tolerably common species in England, being especially fond of inhabiting 

 quiet and rather deep ditches, where it is well sheltered, and the stream is not rapid 

 enough to endanger the security of its domicile. It is necessary that the water plants 

 to which the nest is fixed should be sufficiently firm to prevent the nest from being 

 swayed on one side, as, in that case, the air would escape, and the water make its en- 

 trance. Owing to the vast number of these spiders that have been sent to the London 

 markets, it is not now nearly so plentiful as used to be the case, and indeed has been 

 almost extirpated from several localities where it was formally seen in great numbers. 

 Near Oxford it was tolerably plentiful in the ditches that drained the fields into the 

 Cherwell and Isis, and I have often watched its active movements through the water. 

 Whenever it swims, it always keeps its head downwards, just as is the case with a human 

 diver, and it urges itself through the water with quick smart strides of its hairy 

 legs. 



The limbs and cephalothorax of this species are brown, with a slight tinge of red ; 

 and the abdomen is brown, but washed with green. It is densely covered with hairs. 

 On the middle of the upper surface of the abdomen are found round spots arranged in 

 a square. The male is rather larger than the female, and his legs are larger in propor- 

 tion. He may, however, be distinguished by the large mandibles and longer palpi. 



OF the species represented in the next illustration, fig. A has already been described. 

 The rest belong to the family of the Ciniflonidae. 



All these spiders are fond of residing in crevices in rocks, walls, and stones, or under 

 leaves, or sheltered by old projecting bark ; and near their hiding-place they weave 

 nets of a most elaborate structure, not flat like those of the common garden-spider, but 

 inclosing spaces of considerable size in comparison with the small dimensions of their 

 architects. These webs are woven chiefly by means of a peculiar apparatus on the 

 hinder legs, consisting of two rows of parallel and movable spines. The web is most in- 

 tricate in its arrangements, and connected with the hiding-place of the spider by means 

 of a silken tunnel of variable length, through which the creature darts when it feels the 

 vibration of an insect in its web, and to the bottom of which it retreats if it apprehends 

 danger. Sometimes the spider makes more than one of these tubes. 



Several species of Ciniflo are very plentiful in England, and may be found hidden in 

 their dark silken caverns even in houses. Cellars often contain them, and they fre- 

 quently swarm in the belfries of old churches. They are extremely ferocious, and 

 mostly seem to be hungry, killing fly after fly with untiring assiduity. 



The Ciniflo ferox is moderately plentiful, and may be found in old buildings, especially in 

 the dark crevices behind the windows, and under stones. Its length is a little under half 

 an inch. The cephalothorax is heart-shaped, of a pale yellowish brown, and clothed thinly 

 with long black hairs. The abdomen is dark brown, and is variegated with buff mark- 

 ings of a shape not easy to describe, but which can be seen by reference to the illustration. 



At figs. C and D are shown both sexes of a small, but interesting spider, termed Erga- 

 tis benigna. It is not unfrequent upon heaths and commons, and makes an irregular web 

 at the tips of the gorse and heather. This web passes from one twig to several others, 



