SPIDERS 109 



wonderful beauty of structure. Many kinds of bush are seen 

 to be almost covered by geometrical webs : one species seems 

 to choose the extremities of the branches of the songosongo 

 Euphorbia, but the most common is a web averaging five or six 

 inches in diameter which is spread horizontally on tufts of grass, 

 and may be seen by thousands, half-a-dozen or so in a square 

 yard. This web has a funnel-shaped hole near the centre, with 

 a little shaft leading down to the ground. Near this, the maker 

 and tenant of the structure a little greyish-brown spider about 

 half-an-inch long may often be found, if carefully searched for. 

 As the sun gains power, these numerous webs become almost 

 invisible, but before the moisture is all dried from them, they 

 present a beautiful appearance in the sunshine, for they are 

 exactly like the most delicate gauze, studded with numberless 

 small diamonds, flashing with all the prismatic colours as we 

 pass by and catch the light at varying angles. 



The most conspicuous of the many species of spider seen in 

 Madagascar is a large Nephila, a creature about an inch and a 

 half long, with a spread of legs six or seven inches in diameter. 

 It is handsomely marked with red and yellow, and may be 

 noticed by scores in the centre of its geometric web stretching 

 across the branches of trees. From the considerable distances 

 spanned by the main guys and supports of its great net, this 

 spider is called by the Malagasy Mampita-hddy, or "fosse 

 crosser " ; and these main lines are strong enough to entangle 

 small birds, for at the mission station at Ambatoharanana a 

 cardinal-bird and a kingfisher were both caught in these nets. 

 The male spider is only about a quarter the size of the female 

 as just described, and, sad to say, he frequently is caught and 

 devoured by his affectionate spouse, after mating. Attempts 

 have been made, and with some success, to employ the silk 

 made by this spider in the manufacture of a woven fabric ; but 

 it is very doubtful whether such silk could be procured in such 

 quantities as to be of commercial value. 



Silk from the silkworm moth is produced to a considerable 

 extent, and, as we have seen in speaking of native weaving, is 

 employed in manufacturing a variety of handsome lambas. 

 The moth is a large and beautiful insect, with shades of buff and 

 brown and yellow, and with a large eye-like spot on the hind 

 wings. The caterpillars are fed on the leaves of the mulberry- 



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