60 POND LIFE 



anecdotes, have led to much unwarranted persecution. In 

 fact many people consider it little less than a duty to destroy 

 spiders on sight. 



Their economic importance certainly is not great. It is 

 recorded that one ardent worker made a pair of stockings 

 and mittens out of spiders' silk ; and when one considers that 

 it takes over 27,000 female spiders to produce a single pound 

 of silk, and that each thread-maker must necessarily have a 

 separate home, else chaos follows and cannibalism runs riot, 

 the project of a spider silk industry is not very bright. 



Nature, who so tenderly looks after her children and helps 

 them to be efficient, has not by any means forgotten the 

 spider. For each little creature has a splendid set of eyes, a 

 most important matter, as they rely largely on their eye- 

 sight. 



Some have six simple eyes, others eight, arranged in a 

 systematic manner ; and it is interesting to note that the 

 number of eyes and their position is used as a means of 

 classification. 



Having now made an examination of spiders as a class, we 

 will refer to those particular species that are to be found in 

 ponds and streams. 



Several species are semi-aquatic that is to say, will take to 

 water when necessary, living the remainder of their time on 

 the banks one species is totally aquatic. 



Lycosidae or wolf -spiders (Lucus = wolf), so-called because 

 they hunt their prey, instead of building a web, contains two 

 examples Lycosa piratica and Dolomedes fimbriatus. The 

 former is a brownish-yellow spider with a characteristically 

 long body. 



The females are about one-third of an inch long, whilst the 

 males are smaller, a general rule amongst spiders. 



Lucus piraticus preys to a great extent on aquatic insects, 

 and will follow its victim on to the surface of the water with- 

 out fear. Occasionally in case of sudden emergency it will 

 dive beneath the surface, but usually prefers to escape to the 

 bank. 



Dolomedes, however, does not rely to the same extent as 

 Lucus piratica on the safety of the water-film, and will be 

 seen to use the leaves of water-plants as stepping-stones when 

 on a hunting expedition. 



In case of danger Dolomedes curls up in the characteristic 

 spider attitude, or else runs towards the bank, but never 

 even at the most critical moment does it attempt to make its 

 escape by diving. 



