HABITATIONS OV INSECTS, 475 



air beneath the root' prepared for its reception. This 

 manoeuvre she repeats ten or twelve times, until at length 

 in about a quarter of an hour she has transported as 

 much air as suffices to expand her apartment to its in- 

 tended extent, and now finds herself in possession of a 

 little aerial edifice, I had almost said an enchanted pa- 

 lace, affording her a commodious and dry retreat in the 

 very midst of the water. Here she reposes unmoved by 

 the storms that agitate the surface of the pool, and de- 

 vours her prey at ease and in safety. Both sexes form 

 these lodgings. At ja, particular season of the year the 

 male quits his apartment, approaches that of the female, 

 enters it, and enlarging it by the bubble of air that he 

 carries with him, it becomes a common abode for the 

 happy pair a . — The spider which forms these singular 

 habitations is one of the largest European species, and 

 in some countries not uncommon in stagnant pools. 



I am, &c. 



a Memoirc pour servir d commencer V Histoire des Araignecs Aqua- 

 liquet, l2mo. 



