1899] 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



93 



Fig. 56. 



pass to new hunting-grounds. The French call such threads fils de la Vierge* Some- 

 times the gossamer spider secures its thread and then spreads its limbs, and trusts itself 



to the summer air — the thread lengthening 

 as it goes. Such spiders have been seen to 

 alight on the topmost steeple of York 

 Minster.* 



But the most remarkable of the weav- 

 ing spiders is, I think, Argyroneta aqua- 

 tica. This creature forms its web below 

 the surface of the water. It shuns stag- 

 nant pools and rapid streams, but frequents 

 deep ditches in which there is a gentle cur- 

 rent. First it spreads its stays from on6 

 aquatic plant to another till sufficient 

 anchorage is secured. Then from these 

 it raises a closely-woven air and water 

 •tight dome, like the half of an egg-shell. 

 Its next task is to supply tlis habitation with air, and to expel the water. Its proceedings 

 for this purpose seem almost miraculous. It rises to the surface, throws itself over with a 

 sudden jerk, and entraps, with a film of web guided by its hindmost legs, a globule of air 

 about the size of a buck-shot. With this it scuttles down to its habitation, and dives 

 beneath it. It then sets free its globule of air which rises to the top of the dome, and 

 displaces some of the water. Repeated efforts fully accomplish its work ; and the spider 

 has then an elegant, comfortable and secure dwelling-place. In it it lays its eggs, enclosing 

 them in a cocoon or sack. Occasionally it makes an expedition for food, or to renew the 

 air in its habitation. On the approach of winter it becomes torpid, and in this condition 

 it remains till spring. As a boy, 

 in one of the "Home Counties " in 

 England, 1 often sat by a sluggish 

 stream, and watched these spiders 

 at their work. 



The domestic spider (Clubiona 

 domestical) is not a pleasant object. 

 Its web is untidy, and its own 

 appearance disgusting, but it intru- 

 des everywhere. It " layeth hold 

 with its hands, and is in kings' 

 palaces." 



Among remarkable spiders the 

 Mygales or Bird- spiders hold the 

 first place. Between thirty and 

 forty kinds of them are known. 

 The largest of them have a length 

 of body of two inches and a half, 

 and, when their legs are spread, 

 measure eight inches from claw to 

 claw. Mygale fasciata of Ceylon, 

 Mygale maculata of South America 

 and Mygale Blondii of the West 

 Indies are among the giants. (Fig. 

 57. Mygale Hentzii of Texas). 



Some of the Mygales are 

 known as " Trap-door Spiders " 

 They form tunnels in the earth 



everal inches deep, and beautifully 



ormed. The walls are hard and brown, but are lined with white silk, stiffened and 



Fig. 57. 



* Kirby and Spence's Entomology, letter XXIII'. 



