THE HARVEST-SPIDER, OR HARVEST-MAN. 



677 



means of arrangement. The next group of spiders are in reality separated by the fact 

 that they possess only six eyes, and are therefore called Senoculata, or Six-eyed Arach- 

 nida, the preceding belonging to the group of Octonoculina, or Eight-eyed Arachnida. 



This species of Dysdera has lately attracted much attention, for, although it is prop- 

 perly a native of Southern Germany and the surrounding countries, it has lately been 

 discovered in England. This solitary British specimen was found near Brighton, in a 

 lump of clay upon a bank of the same substance ; and it is a remarkable fact that the 

 entrance of the hole in which the creature lay, was stopped up with a dried carapace of 

 the same species. 



Should any reader wish to discover this rare spider in some other locality, he may 

 easily identify it by its peculiar shape, which is given in the illustration, its straight 

 jaws, its powerful falces, and its six eyes arranged in a form something like that of a 

 horseshoe, two small ocelli in front and four larger behind. It has altogether a reddish 

 cast ; and its length is more than half an inch. 



The pretty SCVTODES shown 

 in this illustration is found both 

 in Europe and Africa, but only in 

 the hotter parts of the former 

 continent. It may be known by 

 its six eyes arranged in pairs, and 

 its elegant coloring, which is 

 pinky white, with two rows of 

 black spots on the abdomen and 

 black rings on the legs. Its eyes 

 are brilliant yellow. The female 

 always uses her jaws in carrying 

 the cocoon, which is about the 

 size of an ordinary pea. 



The SEGESTRIUM also has six 

 eyes, and is found in Europe. It 

 lives mostly in hollows of walls 

 and rocks, spinning a silken tube 

 in which it conceals itself, and 

 holding in its feet the lines which 

 communicate with the exterior. 

 The tube is open at both ends, so 



that when the spider feels either of the lines shaken, it can dart out at once upon its 

 prey. 



The common HARVEST-SPIDER, or HARVEST-MAN, is a very common and well-known 

 inhabitant of England, and, whether in gardens or in the open field, is to be found in 

 very great numbers. 



Sometimes the Harvest-spider is seen scrambling over the grass with wonderful 

 speed, its little round body hardly discernible as it moves along, and its long straggling 

 legs looking like animate hairs. Sometimes it prefers to cling to a wall or fence, and 

 there remains perfectly quiet, with its legs stretched out to their full extent, and occu- 

 pying a wonderful spread of surface. Sometimes again, especially on windy days, it 

 seeks sheltered spots, such as crevices in old walls, or the rough bark on the leeward 

 side of the tree trunks. 



One day this summer (1862), as I was bathing in the river Cray, just below a lasher, 

 I happened to look under the cross-beam of the woodwork, and there saw something 

 which I took for a mass of black horsehair. Wondering how such a substance could 

 get into such a situation, I went to examine it, and then found that the supposed 

 horsehair was nothing more or less than a legion of Harvest-spiders, all gathered to- 

 gether, their little bodies nearly hidden by their bent legs. There must have been some 

 thousands of the creatures under the beam, all perfectly motionless. An intelligent 

 countryman, to whom I pointed out this curious assemblage, was quite as surprised as 

 myself, never having seen anything of the kind before. 



Phalanglum longipes. 

 Segestrlum seaoculatum. Scytodes thoracic*. 



