74 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



this spider kills the prey which becomes entangled in 

 its snare, and as I consider it curious, will describe it 

 as well as I can. The spider on coming up to its 

 victim, instead of going to, and fixing itself on it, 

 and remaining there to suck its juices, as most of its 

 species seem to do, makes a series of short dashes at 

 its intended meal, pausing a few seconds between each, 

 and at each rush inserts its poison-fangs. These 

 dashes become slower and slower, or to speak more 

 correctly, the pauses between them longer and longer, 

 as the attack goes on, until the object of them at 

 length lies motionless ; when, if it be not too large, it 

 is seized and dragged into the hole or tunnel men- 

 tioned above, and devoured at leisure. If, however, 

 it is too large to be removed bodily, the spider 

 detaches a limb at a time, and carries it away piece- 

 meal. From this method of procedure I cannot help 

 thinking that the poison causes moto-paralysis, — 

 perhaps (it is to be hoped so) sensory as well, for I 

 cannot say whether the animal which has been 

 subjected to it is dead when removed. If two or 

 three insects, or small spiders, are placed in the same 

 web together, the owner dashes at them alternately, 

 so as to make sure of losing none of them, and if 

 any of them are small enough, they are carried off, 

 struggling, down the tunnel, whilst their brothers in 

 misfortune are dealt with. 



I once put a specimen of Dolomedes mirabilis, the 

 next spider I shall have to deal with, into a web of 

 the species we are now considering, and was rather 

 surprised to find that it was as much disabled and 

 incapacitated by the net as any insect ; it, however, 

 defended itself bravely and after a couple of rushes, 

 the tenant of the snare gave up its usual tactics and 

 pursued another method of attack, which I had not 

 seen the species use before, though it is common in 

 some other genera. It ran round and round the 

 unfortunate and unwilling intruder, carrying a thread 

 of silk with it as it did so, until the poor wretch was 

 simply swathed in a silken shroud, the maker of 

 which was just going to produce the final scene of the 

 tragedy, when I released the condemned martyr to 

 science, and set him free. If two of the species are 

 placed in the same net, they fight and chase one 

 another, until one of them is either killed or takes 

 refuge in flight. 



Dolomedes mirabilis, the spider I have just men- 

 tioned as having been placed in the web of Agalena 

 labyrinthica, does not appear quite so interesting as 

 that species, perhaps because I have not observed 

 it quite so closely ; it is, however, far from lacking 

 in interesting and peculiar habits, to a few of which 

 I should like to call attention. This spider does 

 not spin a snare. It is in fact a hunting-spider, 

 obtaining its living by means of its powers of speed 

 and leaping, which are very great, and its wonder- 

 ful skill in stalking, in which no animal, I feel 

 sure, can surpass it. Neither this, nor any other 

 spider, however, is unprovided with silk and when 



the breeding-season comes round, which is in August 

 and September, it spins a kind of thin net-work 

 basket, connecting the tops of half-a-dozen grasses or 

 blooms of heather, in which is placed a thick silken 

 cocoon of a yellow colour, containing the eggs. But 

 here comes the most interesting point about this 

 creature : no one, I think, would imagine that any- 

 thing approaching parental affection would be found 

 in an animal so low down in the scale of creatior. 

 as a spider, yet what I am going to relate looks 

 uncommonly like it. The mother remains with the 

 cocoon until the eggs are hatched, and if the nest is 

 ruptured she immediately bolts off with it, (the 

 cocoon), and sooner than part with it, allows herself 

 to be caught and bottled, only loosing her hold when 

 intoxicated by the spirit. Even when the young 

 spiders are hatched, although generally not in the 

 net, she is always close at hand, and the least disturb- 

 ance of the nest brings her at once on the spot, which 

 seems to prove that she must have communication 

 with it by a thread. Having put in an appearance, 

 she exposes herself so carelessly and with so little 

 regard for personal safety that she can be captured 

 with the greatest ease. The male on the other hand, 

 so far as my personal observation goes, does not 

 assist in these efforts for the safety of the family. 



This reference . to sex brings before us another 

 interesting question ; why is it that the males are so 

 much scarcer than the females among this group 

 of animals? I think the answer is two-fold. In 

 the first place the spider is, I believe, a very amorous 

 creature, and I am pretty sure that a youthful male 

 at an age when he would be caressing an incipient 

 moustache, were he homo sapiens, having put on his 

 very best appearance, that is, having just cast his skin, 

 goes off to start a courtship, probably with the first 

 representative of the opposite sex and of his own 

 species that he may meet. Now the lady spiders, not 

 unlike some other animals a great deal higher up in 

 the" animal kingdom, object to the advances of 

 "puppies," to use a figurative expression, but in 

 place of treating the aspirant with cold contempt, they 

 pounce upon him, and first murder and then eat him. 

 In the second place, there is no doubt that most of 

 the male spiders are considerably smaller and weaker 

 than females of the same species, and this renders the 

 above idea only the more probable. It will also be 

 noticed by any observant person in the autumn 

 months, how careful the male is in approaching the 

 female, and at what a respectful distance he always 

 keeps from her. 



The spider which next comes before us is Salticus 

 cupreus. Salticus cupreus is a true hunting-spider, 

 the commonest British representative of the genus, 

 and a pretty, clever, comical little rascal he is. He 

 is nearly always found on walls in the hot sunshine, 

 plying his , vocation with untiring zeal and energy ; 

 he can run and jump like an acrobat, sideways as well 

 as forwards, and his colours, which are black and 



