No. 2.] PROTECTIVE RESEMBLANCES IN SPIDERS. 105 



Cambridge, in the Enc. Brit., says that a species of Cyrtar- 

 achne, found in Ceylon, resembles a small mollusc and that 

 some of the genus Erysoma are very like a minute crab, giving 

 E. cabindse as an example. But he does not seem to imply 

 that the crabs are actually mimicked, and he gives no details. 

 Stoliczka describes a small Xysticus which both in form and color 

 strongly resembles a minute crab, but the habits of the spider, 

 which was always found inside of flowers, preclude any idea 

 of mimicry. 



Trimen gives an account of the imitation, by spiders, of 

 horseflies, a case falling into class 2, as follows : 



" Hunting spiders are in some cases very like their prey, 

 as may everywhere be noticed in the case of the species of 

 Salticus which catch horseflies on sunny walls and fences. 

 The likeness is not in itself more than a general one of size, 

 form and coloring ; but its effect is greatly aided by the actions 

 of the spider, which walks hurriedly for short distances, stop- 

 ping abruptly, and rapidly moving its falces, in evident mim- 

 icry of the well-known movements so characteristic of flies." 



Instances of spiders mimicking ants are very numerous, 

 and in many cases the resemblance is so close as to, at first 

 sight, deceive a trained naturalist. This resemblance is 

 brought about by the spider's body being elongated and 

 strongly constricted, so that it appears to be composed of 

 three segments instead of two, by the color, by the way in 

 which the spider moves about, zig-zagging from side to side 

 like an ant, and by its habit of holding up one pair of its legs 

 and moving them in such a way that thej' look exactly like 

 the antennse of an ant. 



Ants may be regarded as specially protected, by their 

 sharp, acid flavor, and in some species by the possession of 

 stings or of horny processes. 



On the ground that there are birds which do eat ants, and 

 eat them greedily, it has been thought by some naturalists that 

 they cannot be considered specially protected creatures, and 

 that, as spiders can therefore derive no protection from mini- 



