38o 



STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



colour being chocolate-brown, and a broad orange band being 

 drawn so as to mark the outhne of the abdomen and thorax. 

 There is a double row of small white spots upon the surface of 

 the abdomen, and a number of short dark transverse bars give 

 variety to the colouring. The limbs are pale red. 



This creature belongs to that group of spiders which do not 

 live in a web, and wait for casual insects, but which chase their 

 prey" after the manner of carnivorous vertebrates. Indeed, it 



RAFT SPIDER. 



may fairly be said to belong to the large group of wolf spiders, 

 and is nearly allied to them. 



The Raft Spider is only to be found in fenny or marshy places, 

 and is mostly seen in the fens of Cambridgeshire, where its 

 remarkable habits have long been known. Not content with 

 chasing insects on land, it follows them in the water, on the 

 surface of which it can run freely. It needs, however, a resting- 

 place, and forms one by getting together a quantity of dry 



