860 Captain Thos. Hutton on Galeodes (Vorax.J [No. 129. 



nately a beetle and a young Galeodes, thinking to deceive the parent, 

 and make her in the blindness of her fury, commit infanticide. But 

 nature was not to be thus deceived ; the unfortunate beetles were 

 instantly seized and devoured, but the mother knew her offspring, and 

 drew them into the den without the slightest injury ; the beetles were 

 gathered into her jaws, but her own offspring were merely seized 

 between the anterior palpi, and allowed to pass on unhurt. 



This whole family, much to my regret, effected their escape from the 

 vessel in which I kept them, which being of glass and deep-sided, 

 I thought sufficiently secure, and therefore left uncovered. 



The Galeodes, however, being furnished with a retractile sucker at 

 the ends of the anterior palpi, had contrived to crawl up the side of the 

 glass, and make their escape. I succeeded more than a month after- 

 wards in recapturing the old one in the same room, but her offspring 

 I never again saw. 



This species is extremely voracious, feeding at night upon beetles, 

 flies, and even large lizards, and sometimes gorging itself to such 

 a degree, as to render it almost unable to move. 



A lizard three inches long, exclusive of tail, was entirely devoured ; 

 the spider sprung at it, and made a seizure immediately behind the 

 shoulder, never quitting its hold until the whole was consumed. The 

 poor lizard struggled violently at first, rolling over and over in its 

 agony, but the spider kept firm hold, and gradually sawed away with 

 its double jaws into the very entrails of its victim. The only parts 

 uneaten were the jaws and part of the skin, although the lizard was at 

 least five inches long from nose to extremity of tail. After this meal, 

 the spider remained gorged and motionless for about a fortnight, being 

 much swollen and distended. 



A young sparrow, about half grown, was placed under a bell glass 

 with a Galeodes ; the moment the luckless bird moved, the spider 

 seized him by the thigh, which he speedily sawed off, in spite of the 

 sparrow's fluttering, and then as the poor bird continued to struggle in 

 pain, the savage seized him by the throat, and soon put an end to 

 his sufferings by cutting off the head. It did not, however, devour 

 the bird nor any part of it, but seemed satisfied with having killed it. 



On another occasion, I gave it a large garden lizard, which was 

 instantly seized by the middle of the body ; the lizard finding that 



