18 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 



black eyes, also seen on photo. Its 

 ten feet and its entire body is sup- 

 plied with yellowish-red hair, and 

 the joints of the two front feet 

 are of black color, and they serve 

 as feelers rather than legs in loco- 

 motion. 

 The technical name of this arach- 

 nidan is Galeodes araneoides. 



"A recent traveler in Palestine 

 relates that when living in tents 

 on the plains of the Jordan, near 

 Jericho, each night as nearly as 

 possible between 9:30 and 10 

 o'clock, several sulpogids entered 

 the tent room, running and racing 

 with great speed over everything 

 — tables, chairs and bieds — ^just 



New Texas Ant Killer 



It is certainly a rare inhabitant 

 of Texas, but perhaps from fav- 

 orable (sandy) soil conditions and 

 our sub-tropical climate, it was 

 implanted, or it may be indigen- 

 ous to that particular district of 

 Bexar County where it was found 

 and observed killing ants. It be- 

 longs to the order of Solpugidea, 

 a small but rejnarkable group of 

 tropical or semi-tropical arach- 

 nids. This is what one authority 

 relates of its life habits : 



like mad creatures, but apparent- 

 ly with no definite object, per- 

 haps only attracted by the lights 

 burning in the tent. When dis- 

 turbed in their diurnal hiding 

 places they showed fight and were 

 extremely pugnacious, but their 

 being venomous is doubtful, 

 though the Arabs seemed to dread 

 them quite as much as they dread- 

 ed the scorpions, which were also 

 numerous under the large stones 

 lying about." 



