18 



kept spinning till she had made a diving-bell, into which air was 

 introduced from time to time, till the whole of the interior was dry. 

 In this nest the spider laid her eggs, which, of course, I could not 

 see. The spider was captured towards the end of August ; I am not 

 certain of the date, but, from a note made ^.t the time, it was on 

 September 17th that I first saw the little spiders spreading over the 

 water-plants. Their appearance was that of little silver beads. In 

 those busy days I am afraid the safety of infant s[)iders did not 

 receive sufficient attention. There were three small Prussian carp on 

 the scene, who had always treated the mother with distant respect ; 

 but, on my return home after a short absence, I considered the fish 

 responsible for the disappearance of the young Argyronefa. 



The places where I have been able to meet with A. aquatica bear 

 out the accuracy of the Rev. J. G. Wood's statement, that this 

 species is especially fond of inhabiting quiet and rather deep ditches. 

 But on one occasion I caught it, unexpectedly, in the bed of the 

 River Nene, near Northampton. It is possible that it may have been 

 living in the stream, but there was a quiet backwater quite near, 

 leading to a mill. I have never heard of its being found m that 

 river on any other occasion. It was with some surprise that I read 

 in the Rev. O. Pickard Cambridge's " Spiders of Dorset " that he had 

 never found it in that county ; but, as his record goes back to 1881, 

 it is quite possible that it has been found since. And, of course, it 

 would need searching for in a special way. The ditches near Oxford 

 draining into the Cherwell and the Isis seem to have supplied this 

 spider somewhat plentifully (J. G. Wood). 



The " Other Spiders " mentioned at the head of this paper are 

 entirely distinct in family and habits from A. aquatica. The fact of 

 their being more or less aquatic in their habits, and being frequently 

 seen on, if not in, the water, seems to give them some title for 

 inclusion in our present study. 



The whole family, Lycosidse (wolf-spiders), includes spiders of 

 distinctly predatorial and hunting habits. The genera have under- 

 gone considerable re-arrangement since the division adopted by Mr. 

 Blackwall. I purpose to consider briefly members of two genera, 

 Dolomedes and Pirata. And here, already, we may notice that a 

 spider often seen carrying its cocoon attached to its body^ in the 

 same way as Dolomedes fimbriatus, no longer ranks among the 

 Lycosid?e by the name of Dolomedes mirabilis, but has been placed 

 in a family of its own (Pisauridfe) as Fisaurn mirabilis. In the genus 

 Dolomedes we still retain the one English species, D. fimbriatus. I 

 must crave indulgence in treating of this spider, as I have never seen 

 it alive. It is a large spider, we are told (Staveley), common in the 

 fens of Cambridgeshire. The female sometimes measures three 

 quarters of an inch in lengh. She carries her cocoon, says Mons. 

 Simon, in her chelicerae, and when the young spiders are about to 

 come out, she places it upon some plant near to the water, and 

 fastens it by means of irregularly woven threads. 



