40 ANIMALS OF NO IMPORTANCE. 



fly treats spiders in a very cowardly way. It lays an egg on 

 the abdomen of the latter ; when the larva emerges from the 

 egg it eats its way into the body of the spider and literally 

 sucks out the life-blood of its victim. 



The spider instinctively recognises the wasp as its enemy 

 and has devised a number of methods of escaping from the 

 attacks of its foe. A favourite device is for the spider to 

 assume the form of a leaf. Some forms simulate green 

 leaves, while others affect the appearance of withered leaves. 

 In either case, when the wasp approaches dangerously near, 

 the spider drops to the ground in the slow manner of a 

 falling leaf. The spider cleverly regulates the speed with 

 which it falls by spinning an invisible line. 



We have now to consider the spider in her relations to 

 her own species. And in common honesty, we must admit 

 that it is in private life that the spider appears to worst 

 advantage. If she is cruel to other animals, the spider is 

 brutal to her own kind. I use the pronoun (t she " advised- 

 ly, for I regret to have to state that in the spider world the 

 female is far more fierce and depraved than the male. Have 

 you ever seen a lady-spider being wooed ? If not, make a 

 point of doing so. Among spiders courting is a most dan- 

 gerous occupation. In the case of human beings the male 

 has only to fear a refusal, or at the very worst he may be 

 somewhat violently put out of the house by the irate parent 

 of his inamorata. A spider who goes a-courting carries his 

 life in his hand, for the lady is always the larger of the two, 

 and a fiercer creature does not exist, since she invariably 

 tries to devour her rejected suitor. Far worse than this, 

 she has been known to eat up her spouse when she has 

 grown tired of him. She is a cannibal of the most aggra- 

 vated kind. Watch her as she takes up a position in the 

 centre of her web. In the far distance, a humble admirer is 

 seen approaching. At first his gait is rapid, but as he nears 

 the lady he becomes extremely wary, being ready to turn 

 and beat a hasty retreat should she " go for " him. When 

 the intrepid suitor has arrived within about four inches of 



