THE NATURALIST IN HIS BUNGALOW. 19 



spider pounces down upon it with lightning rapidity, grasps 

 it with her two front legs, and, holding on to the web by 

 means of her two middle pairs, uses the hindermost pair, 

 and the spinnerets to wind a net of silk round her victim. 

 If she be not hungry she leaves her captive thus bound, 

 figuratively speaking, hand and foot, until she needs a 

 meal. If she be hungry she at once paralyses her prey 

 with the poison she secretes, and then proceeds to suck 

 out its life-blood. When she has absorbed all the nutrient 

 matter she casts away the dry husk. 



If, however, her victim be a wasp the spider approaches 

 it very warily, taking great care to avoid the sting. She 

 commences operations with the head, winding it round 

 and round with silk, and then works backwards. It not 

 infrequently happens that the wasp is too much for the 

 spider, and bids fair to wreck her net in the violence of 

 its struggles ; the clever spider then, on the principle of 

 " discretion is the better part of valour," cuts the web all 

 round the dangerous prisoner, which is thus allowed to 

 drop away. 



Each day I feed my spider. A black ant is daily 

 sacrificed to her. Sometimes for an ant I substitute 

 a little ball of paper. As soon as it touches the net 

 the spider pounces down upon it only to find herself the 

 victim of a trick which she seems to resent, for she 

 retreats in disgust, returning later to cut away the useless 

 encumbrance. 



It was stated above that the spider is cruel and voracious. 

 But she is worse than this she is a cannibal. I look 

 forward to the time of her courtship, when the male, who 

 is smaller than the female, will timidly approach and dance 

 before her in hopes of winning her approval. If he fails 

 to please she will dash at him, and he will run for his life, 

 for if she catch him she will devour him without compunc- 

 tion. I regret to have to relate that it often happens that 

 even after the lady spider has accepted one of her suitors 

 as her spouse she kills and eats him. Such are the dire 



