52 



ARACHNOIDEA, 



CASE laterally. In the Mygalidae it moves vertically as if it were 

 pinning the creature it seizes to its own breast or like the claws of 

 a lion closing on its prey. Species of these gigantic spiders are 

 found in the Tropics all round the world. 



Nos. 



X 2. 



Mygale avicularia (^^<i;/rZ').— 1. Specimen (o) ; 2. Sketch, natural size. 



Mygale avicularia (natural size). 



This spider inhabits tropical South America. It is the species 

 which has sometimes been called the bird-catching spider, (whence 

 the name avicularia, which originated with Mme. Merian) from 

 the idea that it occasionally caught or entrapped in its nest small 

 birds, such as humming birds. The tale has never received 

 actual confirmation, indeed it has been wholly denied. Langs- 

 dorf insists that it only eats insects, and Kirby and Spence give 

 Mr. W. S. MacLeay's authority to the same effect from his own 

 observations on Mygale avicularia, which was very common in 

 his garden in Cuba. It did him great service by devouring the 

 mite, achetse, cockroaches, &c., which are so injurious there ta 

 cultivated vegetables. It issues from its hole in the night only 



