uS PRACTICAL ZOOLOGY 



Spider Bites. — In the North there is no danger at all from 

 spider bites. Spiders if captured are so busy trying to escape 

 that they rarely attempt to bite. They use poison to kill in- 

 sects, but scientists have allowed themselves to be bitten by all 

 kinds of spiders without any harmful results whatever. Evi- 

 dently a dose of poison that will paralyze an insect has no effect 



Fig. 64. — A harvestman. (From Sedgwick.) 



upon a man. It is therefore perfectly safe to handle any living 

 spiders if you so desire. 



Harvestmen. — The harvestmen or daddy longlegs (Fig. 64) 

 resemble spiders in many ways. They possess small bodies and 

 very long, slender legs. During the daytime they remain quietly 

 in some place of concealment, but at night they venture forth in 

 search of insects whose juices they suck just as do the spiders. 



Scorpions. — Scorpions are rapacious arachnids measuring 

 from half an inch to eight inches in length (Fig. 65). They live 

 in tropical and subtropical regions, hiding in crevices or in pits 

 in the sand during the daytime, but running about actively at 

 night. They capture insects and spiders with their pinchers, 

 tear them apart with their chelicerae, and devour the pieces. 

 Larger animals are paralyzed by the sting on the end of the tail. 

 This sting does not serve as a weapon of defense unless the 

 scorpion is hard pressed, and is not used, as is often stated, 

 to sting itself to death, since the poison has no effect upon 

 its own body. 



