PULMONARIiE. 171 



all Insects and other analogous classes, the ova are sterile 

 without a union of the sexes. Their nuptial season in France 

 lasts from the latter end of summer till the beginning of Octo- 

 ber. The ova first laid are frequently hatched before the ter- 

 mination of autumn : the others remain in statu quo during the 

 winter. The females of certain species of Lycosa have been 

 observed to tear open the egg-sac when the young ones were 

 about to issue from the ovum. The latter' then mount on the 

 back of their mother, where they remain some time. Other 

 female Araneides carry their cocoons under the abdomen, or 

 remain near them and Watch them. The two posterior feet 

 of some of the young ones are not developed until several days 

 after they have been hatched. Some, during the same period, 

 live together, and appear to spin in common. Their colour- 

 ing is then more uniform, and the young naturalist may 

 easily err in multiplying their species. One of our collabo- 

 rators for the Encyclopedic Methodique, M. A. Lepelletier 

 of Saint-Fargeau, has observed that these animals^, as well as 

 the Crustacea, possess the faculty of reproducing a lost limb. 



I have ascertained that a single wound from a moderate 

 sized Araneid will kill our common Fly in a few minutes. It 

 is also certain that the bite of those large Araneides of South 

 America, which are there called Crab-Spiders, and are placed 

 by us in the genus Mygale, kills the smaller vertebrated ani- 

 mals, such as Humming-Birds, Pigeons, &c., and produces a 

 violent fever in Man ; the sting of some species in the south of 

 France has even occasionally proved fatal. We may therefore, 

 without believing all the fabulous stories of Baglivi and others 

 respecting the bite of the Tarantula, mistrust the Araneides, 

 and particularly the larger ones. 



Various insects of the genus Sphex, Lin., seize upon these 

 Spiders, pierce them with their sting, and transport them 

 into holes where they have deposited their eggs, as a source 

 of food for their young. Most of them perish in winter, but 

 there are some which live several years — such are the My- 

 gales, the Lycosa, and probably several others. Although 

 Pliny states that the genus Phalangium is unknown in Italy, 



