SPIDEBS AND MITES. 243 



" Tlie Cursores, Saltatores, and Laterigradce, make 

 no webs : tlie first catch their prey by swift pursuit ; 

 the second spring upon their prey by insidious and 

 agile leaps ; the third run, crab-like, sideways or back- 

 wards, and occasionally throw out adhesive threads to 

 entrap their prey. The Latebricolm hide in burrows 

 in fissures, which they line with a web. The TvMoolm 

 inclose themselves in a silken tube, strengthened ex- 

 ternally by leaves or other foreign substances. The 

 NiditelcB weave a nest whence issue threads to entrap 

 their prey. The FiUtelm are remarkable for the long 

 threads of silk which they spread about in the places 

 where they prowl in quest of prey. The Lapitelce spin 

 great webs of a close texture, like hammocks, and wait 

 for the insects that may be entangled therein. Tlie 

 Orbitelce spread abroad webs of a regular and open 

 texture, either circular or spiral, and remain in the 

 middle, or on one side, in readiness to spring upon an 

 entangled insect. The BetitelcB spin webs of an open 

 mesh-work and of an irregular form, and remain in the 

 middle or on one side, to seize their prey. Lastly, the 

 AquitelcB spread their silken filaments under water, to 

 entrap aquatic insects. 



" The silken secretion of Spiders is not applied only 

 to the formation of a warm and comfortable dwelling 

 for themselves, or of a trap for their prey ; it is often 

 employed to master the struggles of a resisting insect, 

 which is bound round by an extemporaiy filament, 

 spun for the occasion, as by a strong cord. It forms 

 the aeronautic filament of the young migratory brood. 

 It serves to attach the moulting Hyd/rachna to an 

 aquatic plant by the anterior part of the body, when it 

 struggles to withdraw itself from its exuvium. Lastly, 



