ÖFVERSIGT AF K. VETENSK.-AKAD. FÖRHANDLINGAR 1899, N:0 10. 981 



tliree tiiues, but it could not pierce the skin, still less make 

 any poisoning efFect. Låter, in October, it did not want to eat 

 any longer. Living flies that were thrown to it were, however, 

 seized as usual with help of the palps and the first pair of legs 

 and bitten, but at once released and abandoned. When the fly 

 was not bitten through the nervous system it was perfectly able 

 to crawl around a long time after it had been bitten and was 

 apparently not poisoned. This shows that it is only the mechanical 

 power of the jaws which is dangerous to the prey of Galeodes. 

 This mechanical power is however in Galeodes araneoides not 

 strong enough to pierce the thickened skin on the tips of the 

 fingers of a human hand as I. have had opportunity to prove as 

 well on myself as on one of my friends who was brave enough 

 to let Galeodes bite him. Under the microscope the tips of the 

 chelae look rather blunt and 1 have not been able to see any 

 pore through which the poison could be eventually pressed out. 

 All these facts counted together prevent me from regarding 

 Galeodes araneoides as a venomous aniraal. 



It has been stated above that the Galeodes held in captiv- 

 |ty became less lively in October and did not want to eat. It 

 was quite plain that its hibernating instincts were aroused altliough 

 jt was kept in a warm room and quite near the öven. It went 

 round and tried to find a suitable place to conceal itself in. 

 It dug in the sand thereby using, as I also observed on specimens 

 in Baku, the two anterior pairs of legs. When I gave it a 

 heap of mixed clayey earth and sand it dug in the same quite 

 intensively. When the material was to härd to be pushed back- 

 wards under the body with the legs only, it also used its jaws 

 loosening small stones and pieces of clay and carrying them 

 away. (This manner also of using the jaws when digging does 

 not seem to agree with the theory that they should be instru- 

 ments for inflicting venomous wounds only, because if they were 

 such the poison must flow just as well when the »falanga» bit 

 in the earth and other things as when it attacked its prey and 

 that would be a great waste.) When the Galeodes had a whole 



Öfvers. af K. Vet.-Akad. Förh. 1899. Arg. 56. N:o 10. 2 



