OHAPTBE XIV. 



WTATER-SPIDERS AND WATEH-TBfORMS. 



HE Water-spider {Argyroneta aquatica) is an ex- 

 ceediaagly interesting inmate of tlie tank : its 

 intelligence and ingenuity have long made it a 

 great favourite with aquarium-keepers. It is about ^in. long, 

 and is therefore rather a large spider. Its abdomen is ovate 

 in shape, and of an olive-brown colour, and the rest of its 

 body, including the legs, is a dark reddish-brown. Its first 

 and last pairs of legs are of greater length than the other 

 two pairs. The females of most spiders are larger than the 

 males, but in regard to the Argyroneta the reverse is the 

 case. Water-spiders may be found in the ponds and ditches 

 of many parts of England, especially in those of Cambridge- 

 shire and Norfolk ; but when the aquarium-keeper is not 

 fortunate enough to be able to catch them in his own neigh- 

 bourhood, he can always buy them in London at prices 

 ranging from 3d. to Is. each. The abdomen of the Water- 

 spiders is covered with a kind of hair, which repels the water 

 and prevents the creature from getting wet. Sometimes, 

 however, when these animals are beiag carried in water from 

 the pond in which they have been taken or from the shop 

 where they have been bought, to their new home (the 

 aquarium), they will be found at the end of their journey to 

 be nearly if not quite drowned. The splashing of the water 

 in the can in which they have travelled has so thoroughly 



