2 3 o WEB-SPIDERS. 



either on the ground or the upper side of its web. It has an ingenious method of 

 overcoming insects like bees, with which it is afraid to come to close quarters, 

 when they have fallen into the web. Attaching a thread to a spot close at hand, 

 the spider runs in circles round and round its entangled prey, letting out the 

 thread as it goes and gradually enveloping the insect, and effectually putting a 

 stop to all struggles. Then, when it is tightly bound, the spider cautiously 

 approaches, and, inflicting a bite upon the insect, puts an end to its life. Also 

 belonging to this family is the so-called cardinal spider (Tegenaria guyonii), 

 erroneously believed peculiar to the chapel at Hampton Court. Although none 

 of the families of Tubitelarice hitherto considered possess the cribellum and 

 calamistrum, one family (Amaurobiidai) is supplied with these organs. A well- 

 known form is Amawrobius similis, which lives in holes in walls and ivy, where 

 it spins an irregular, untidy, woolly web. The Plagitelarke contain the family 

 Pholcidce, of which the genus Pholcus is the best known; one species (P. phalan- 

 g to ides) being not uncommon in the South of England, where in sheds and 

 outhouses it spins a characteristic web, composed of a tangled mass of irregularly 

 interlacing threads. This species has exceedingly long and slender legs, which at 

 first sight give it a close resemblance to the harvest spiders. It moves slowly and 

 clumsily ; but when alarmed has a habit of hanging downwards in the web, by the 

 tips of the toes, and swinging the body round and round with such rapidity that it 

 becomes almost invisible. No nest is made, and the cocoon consists of a flimsy 

 network, enveloping the eggs, which the mother carries about in her mandibles. 



The next tribe — (Retitelarice) — contains a host of spiders belonging to the 

 families Theridiidce and Linyphiidce, most of which are of small size, while 

 some are the smallest of all spiders. In structure they approach very near those 

 Tubitelarice which have no cribellum. The web consists of an irregular network 

 of lines, or a horizontal sheet of silk, but there is no tubular retreat ; and the 

 spider crawls along the under instead of the upper surface of the web. The cocoon 

 is suspended in or near the snare, and no nest is built for its reception. Of 

 the first family a well-known representative is Lathrodecius tredecim- 

 guttatus, which somewhat exceeds the common garden grass-spider in size, and 

 is either black or variegated with thirteen pale spots. Occurring in the countries 

 bordering the Mediterranean, this spider spreads it webs over grass fields, and lives 

 largely on grasshoppers. This species and others of the genus are much dreaded on 

 account of their poisonous bite. The Orbitelarice, or orb-spinners, containing the 

 best known of all spiders, are closely allied to the Retitelarice, from which they 

 differ by the presence of a smooth spot upon the base of the mandible, and also by 

 having a narrow space between the eyes and the base of the mandible. In this 

 group the art of net-spinning has reached its highest point ; all their claws on 

 the feet being highly developed, while some of the hairs on the apex of the 

 tarsi are barbed and toothed to form a kind of spurious claw. Such members 

 of the tribe as possess a cribellum and calamistrum, belong to the family 

 Uloboridw, which contains the well-known European genera, Uloborus and 

 Hyptiotes. Both these spiders are adepts at the art of concealment; the 

 former spins a shabby orb - web in a hollow tree trunk and places of a 

 like nature, and leaves in its web the debris of insects that have been 



