SPIDERS AND THEIR IVEB-MAKING 



191 



for spiders in or near their webs, in the corolla of flowers, 

 on the bark of trees, under stones and sticks on the 

 ground, and (for tarantulas and other spiders with tubu- 

 lar nests in the ground) in their burrows. Spiders living on 

 webg, flowers, trees, etc., are very prone to drop quickly 

 to the ground when disturbed. Take advantage of this 

 and be ready to catch a falling spider in a pill-box, 

 quickly clapping the lid on. Use the pill-bo.x and lid as 

 catching equipment (fig. 148) ; you will soon get expert in 

 the work. Small spiders, especially those in webs or 

 flower-cups, can be caught with perfect impunity in the 



Fig. 148. Fig. 149. 



Fig. 148. — Catchint; a spider. (After Jenkins and Kellogg.) 

 Fig. 149. —Spider dropping from a pencil supported by suspending line. 

 (After Jenkins and Kellogg.) 



hands. But there is always danger of crushing the soft 

 body of the creature, or pulling off a leg or two in hand- 

 ling. Trust chiefly to manipulation of the box and lid. 

 There need be no holes in the box for the admission of 

 air, the bo.xes being by no means air-tight. The silken 

 egg-sacs or cocoons of spiders, if recognized, may also be 

 collected, and the young spiders reared in the school- 



