British Entomological Society. 3153 



have lately been detected in our own well-explored country. Those which are known 

 belong, principally, to that division of the family whose members are designated 

 ' hunting spiders,' from their not weaving webs to entrap their prey, like the majority 

 of their brethren in this country, but securing it by lying in wait and pouncing upon 

 it when unawares, after the fashion of the feline tribe among quadrupeds. Many of 

 the smaller species of this division frequent houses in Demerara, affording excellent 

 opportunities to the inquirer of observing their tact nnd sagacity. 



" Many a time have I sat, for hours, watching them thus engaged on the floor, the 

 jalousie, or the wall, their compact forms scarcely distinguishable, when motionless, 

 from the head of a nail or a knot in the wood. A fly alights a yard or so from some 

 lurking robber impatient of a meal : see how quickly he detects it, whether behind or 

 before it matters little, for he can see in all directions equally well : with what eager- 

 ness, yet what caution, he advances towards his unconscious victim ; now he takes a 

 few stealthy paces, now he remains still ; at length he has reduced his former distance 

 to about a third, He is now within the range of the fly's vision, and an incautious 

 movement would balk him of his prey. Every faculty is alert — the fly advances, so 

 does he — it moves to one side, so does he— it retreats, so does he — one spirit seems to 

 animate the two bodies, they move in perfect unison ; backwards, forwards, or side- 

 ways, the spider walks with equal facility, and even keeping his side towards the fly, 

 glides as truly and silently as its own shadow. The fly has now become stationary ; 

 perhaps he is absorbed in the discussion of some stray grain of sugar, or, maybe, clear- 

 ing his head and face from all particles of dust ; for flies are, in this respect, very par- 

 ticular, indeed perfect models of cleanliness, though I dare say Mary, the housemaid, 

 thinks far otherwise, as she arrays the picture-frames and chandelier in the drawing- 

 room in their muslin coverings ; or Martha, the cook, as she surveys her rows of cop- 

 per skillets and saucepans, brightened the day before by hours of scouring, and now 

 bespeckled by a buzzing plague : may be, with microscopic eye he is surveying some 

 furious combat at his feet, and thinking, with mingled feelings of derision and con- 

 tempt, that his mighty foot would cover the battle-field of thousands. Well had it been 

 for the poor fellow if ' be vigilant' had been written in fly-characters below his nose. 

 Meanwhile, the spider is advancing nearer and nearer ; you cannot see him move, so 

 guarded are his motions, but can perceive that the interval which separates him from 

 his victim is gradually decreasing ; he is now but a few inches distant, perhaps four 

 or five— he prepares to leap ; the fly is chuckling at some atomic Hector, dragged by 

 the heels from the field of slaughter by a valiant Achilles — he'll smile no more — one 

 spring, one pounce, and he is clasped to a breast that knows neither pity nor remorse. 



"These spiders are well-limbed for leaping, and jump an enormous distance, con- 

 sidering their size ; to equal them, in fact, a full-grown tiger would require to spring 

 above fifty yards at one bound, or a kangaroo, probably the best jumper among quad- 

 rupeds, to increase five-fold its huge hops of twenty feet. Some of the hunting spi- 

 ders conceal themselves among the leaves and in the crannies of the bark of trees ; 

 others, again, with deeper craft, lurk among the petals and in the calyxes of flowers, 

 where it is probable that many, coloured by nature for the purpose, deceive their prey 

 by assuming the appearance of pistils and stamens. Mining spiders, of the genus 

 Mygale of naturalists, bore circular holes in the ground, some two or even three feet in 

 depth, lining them with a thick silken cloth, and securing themselves and young from 

 detection and intrusion by closing the entrance with an ingenious trap-door, formed 

 of particles of earth, and not reognizable, when closed, from the surrounding soil. 



Vol. iv. 2 a 



