ON ARACHNIDA. 455 



It would therefore appear, that some caution is requisite, 

 respecting the larger species. In endeavouring to avoid the 

 Charybdis of credulity, we should take care not to stumble 

 on the Scylla of imprudence. 



The araneides are very generally spread through all coun- 

 tries, and found, in fact, in every habitable portion of the 

 globe. Those of warm climates are larger than the spiders 

 of temperate regions. The males and females live separately. 

 The latter are more frequently met than the former, which 

 do not approach the females but at the time of coupling, for 

 fear of being devoured. Nevertheless, in some small species, 

 both inhabit the same web ; the male, however, remains a 

 little apart. All are extremely carnivorous, and live only by 

 rapine. They seize flies and other insects, which fall into 

 their nets. Those which construct no webs, such as the 

 wandering araneides, catch their prey by running, or darting 

 upon it from above ; others watch for it concealed under a 

 leaf The males often fall victims to the females, and the 

 latter carry on a cruel war against each other when they 

 meet. If one spider should happen to fall into the web of 

 another, a desperate and mortal combat immediately takes 

 place. When the two combatants are of equal strength, they 

 wound each other reciprocally. The proprietor of the web 

 is almost always the aggressor. The stranger remains on the 

 defensive ; but when the first finds itself the weaker of the 

 two, it flies, and yields its web to the other, which never 

 pursues, but remains, and profits by the labour of its adver- 

 sary. It often occurs, according to Geoffi'oy, that some old 

 araneides take possession by force of the web ,of a younger 

 spider, because with the advance of age, the reservoir of the 

 fluid which furnishes their threads becomes exhausted, and 

 they can no longer construct a web, of which they, neverthe- 

 less, have need, for the purpose of catching their prey ; they 

 therefore compel a young one to give up its own. Nature, 



