THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 149 



seemed paralyzed, and made no attempt to escape. The spider 

 immediately began a repast, which I left it to enjoy. 



It is needless to say spiders do not enjoy a rich popularity, 

 especially amongst the fair sex, by whom they are feared and 

 disliked, and who lose no opportunity to destroy them. No 

 small animal has more enemies, or fewer friends, than the 

 Voconia, or so-called "Tarantula" — or, perhaps, more commonly 

 "Triantelope" — though, why it received the name Tarantula I 

 am at a loss to understand, unless it was from its supposed 

 poisonous bite. Lycosa tarantula, the once-supposed poisonous 

 spider of Italy, not only belongs to a different family, but is of a 

 totally different form. No small animal, I say, has more enemies 

 or fewer friends. No sooner is one discovered in or near a 

 dwelling than he is immediately set upon. One keeps watch to 

 see that he does not escape, whilst another goes for the tongs, or 

 some other deadly weapon, and in a short time he is sent to join 

 the majority of Voconias. Amongst my own family, where I 

 have succeeded in creating a certain measure of sympathy for 

 spiders in general, exception is still taken to this particular genus, 

 and when one makes his appearance inside the house I have no 

 peace until it is transferred to the outer walls of the building. 

 Yet these spiders are quite harmless, and, in consequence of their 

 large size and voracious appetites, are, I think, the most useful of 

 all spiders. One evening last summer I watched a female of this 

 genus outside one of my windows, which, in consequence of the 

 attraction of the light inside, proved a good hunting ground. In 

 less than half an hour she killed no less than seven moths, and, 

 like all the predatory spiders, she devoured them at once, eating 

 every bit, even the wings and legs (except in the case of two large 

 moths, where she rejected the two largest wings), using the palpi 

 like hands to double them up and stuff them into her mouth. 

 The juices appear to be very rapidly distributed throughout the 

 system, for, though it may appear strange to you, as it did to me, 

 it is a fact that, after devouring seven moths, which in the 

 aggregate seemed at least twice the size of the spider, I could 

 observe scarcely any difference in her size. 



There is evidence that the dread of, and dislike to, spiders is 

 not confined to the fair sex alone, from the fact that one of the 

 most successful of the many practical jokes perpetrated at the cattle 

 sale-yards at Flemington is performed by the aid of an imitation 

 spider. My informant was himself a victim, but has since had the 

 satisfaction of seeing many others treated in a similar way. The 

 joke is carried out in this way : — The "joker," if I may use the 

 term, provides himself with a mock spider, the body of which is 

 made of cork, and the legs of elastic drawn from the elastic side of 

 an old boot. The legs usually number only six, but that does not 

 interfere with the success of the joke, for the victim seldom waits 



