POISONOUS INSECTS AND THEIR RELATIVES 401 



spider has less effect on an individual than that of the 

 sting of a bee or wasp. Eugene Simon was bitten on his 

 finger by Lycosa tarentula. The sensation was like the 

 prick of two needles. The pain was sharp and some 

 blood flowed from the slight puncture, but the wound 

 healed without any serious consequences. 



One more instance of a spider-bite should be related 

 because it is an authentic case in which the spider was 

 caught in the act of biting by a trained entomologist, 

 who recognized the species and noted the effect of the 

 bite on his own person. Theodore Pergande, an entomolo- 

 gist of high reputation, found a fine specimen of Lycosa 

 viridicola in the kitchen of his residence in the city of 

 Washington. He took hold of the spider and was bitten 

 on the terminal joint of the thumb. The sensation was 

 similar to the prick of a needle. The bite produced a 

 red spot and mild piercing pains were felt in the thumb and 

 all of the fingers of that hand for the rest of the day. 

 The pains passed away, however, during the night and 

 no further inconvenience was suffered, although the red 

 spot remained for several days. 



The tarantula (Plate VII) is perhaps, as Riley says, the 

 most famed and defamed of all the spiders. The name is 

 derived from the town Tarentum in Italy, but just what 

 spider of southern Europe was supposed to cause the taran- 

 tula dance is not surely known. Probably it was a species 

 of the family, Lycosidce. Moreover, the confusion has been 

 further increased by extending the name, tarantula, to a 

 very different family of spiders. In the United States, 

 the tarantula is Eurypelma hentzi, found in the Southern 

 states. It is a large, black, hairy spider that lives in 

 tubes dug in the earth. 



2D 



