38 ANIMALS OF NO IMPORTANCE. 



line would bear, I plucked some blades of grass, and bend- 

 ing them at an angle hung them in a row on the line 

 just as a washerwoman hangs linen out to dry. Five 

 blades were successfully hung ; the sixth, however, proved 

 to be the straw that broke the camel's back the line 

 snapped. To me the experiment was interesting ; the 

 spider, however, did not appear to fully appreciate it. 



Next in order of merit as web-weavers come the Retitel- 

 arios spiders, who build regular webs among the leaves 

 of trees or in the angles of buildings. These webs are 

 fixed above and below by lines of silk which run in all 

 directions ; other spiders, again, make their snare in the 

 shape of a silken tube which they construct in any hole 

 or fissure they can find. The mouth of the web is open, 

 with one or two viscid lines placed across it. In these 

 the unwary insect becomes entangled. The spider dashes 

 out with lightning speed and drags its prey into its lair. 

 Other spiders, again, make their own holes in the ground 

 and line them with silk. Over these dens they construct 

 a silken trap-door, which closes on the unfortunate insect 

 whom curiosity prompts to " prospect " the hole. The 

 gossamer spider can scarcely be said to build a web at 

 all. His traps consist of a few ethereal strands of finest 

 silk upon which he floats through the air in a truly 

 mysterious manner. Many spiders do not construct snares. 

 They sit hidden until their prey approaches, when they 

 dash out and seize it. The ambush selected varies with 

 the species. Some are content to sit concealed in a hole. 

 The majority, however, occupy the centres of flowers or 

 twigs, the colour of which is very similar to that of their 

 body. A foolish butterfly comes along suspecting nothing, 

 and in an instant it is in the cruel embrace of the spider, 

 who loses no time in sucking out its life-blood. 



One spider mimics a bird dropping, and he lies perfectly 

 motionless exposed upon a stone. The fly, mistaking him 

 for a tempting morsel, alights upon him, and shares the 

 same fate as the luckless butterfly. Other spiders despise 



