396 



INVERTEBRATES. 



portion of her work, where she has drawn a curious insect, com 

 pounded of the head of a lantern-fly, and the body of a cicada. 

 She seems to have had her doubts on the subject, for she takes 

 care to say, " The Indians told me." 



The common Garden, or Geometrical Spider, as it is 

 called from the mathematical regularity of its net, is an excellent 



Qarden Spider. 



example of the Spiders. The net .is formed from a gummy snb- 

 stance secreted in an apparatus called the spinneret, through the 

 holes of which the gummy secretion is drawn, and becomes h ird 

 when exposed to the air. Each thread is composed of many thou- 

 sand lines. When the web is completed, the Spider generally hides 

 itself under a leaf or other convenient lurking-place, and from 

 thence pounces upon any unwary fly that has entangled itself in 

 the slender meshes. Should the fly be a large one, the Spider 

 rapidly encircles it with fresh threads until it has bound its wmga 

 and legs to the body, and then breaking off the few threads that 

 hold it to the net, bears it off triumphantly to its hiding-place 

 Frequently, the Geometrical Spider sits in the centre of the web 



