225 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. [November 



shining eyes, angular limbs, and many other unconsidered et ceteras 

 once attached to former captives whose succulent frames have long 

 since been squeezed and their juices tasted by the appreciative 

 maxillae of the builders. 



Beneath the tent lies a perfect tangle of interwoven threads, 

 whence an unfortunate may abandon all hope of escape should it be 

 once fairly entangled. The spider, too, hurries down at once to 

 complete the discomfiture of her unwilling visitor, shakes the web 

 viciously, and finally closing with her victim, kicks out fine threads 

 with the comb beneath the hind tarsi, to the intent she may entangle 

 still more her struggling captive. Observers will be astonished to find 

 how large an insect these small spiders will completely master and 

 devour. 



Often the male and female may be found peaceably dwelling 

 beneath the same tent-house, where a little later will be found the 

 dull, buff cocoon of pictum, or the pale sea-green egg-sac of sisyphium. 



The young spiders are soon hatched and live for some weeks in the 

 old home with mama. Papa has by this time usually ceased to take 

 any active interest in the commonplace details of mundane spider life, 

 but hangs empty and chitinous, a mere ghost of his former agile little 

 self, in some remote corner of the web. Hither at times a venturesome 

 spiderling v/ill wend its inquisitive way and proceed to investigate 

 with palpal wonderment the dried remains of dear papa ; and if 

 perchance their may yet lurk a morsel of appreciable moisture within 

 his ancient skin, this will lead to smacking of lips and general 

 expression of maxillary satisfaction. Also too ! no sooner has the 

 family began to take care of itself, than mama begins to show 

 unmistakable signs of a break up of her constitution ; and she too 

 evaporates mto the future, thus bearing witness to the general fact 

 that parent organisms have a knack of fading away when their 

 offspring have been once fairly set upon their legs in life. 



Yet another very interesting little spider stretches her delicate 

 lace-work net over the leaves of my prolific hedge-row ; or more 

 frequently and in greater abundance upon the palisading of an 

 adjacent garden. These tiny little creatures Dwtyiia uncinata by 

 name, lay a series of radiating lines, converging towards the tiny 

 burrow or tunnel (there are often two such burrows), subsequently 

 laying upon them a flocculent silk carded out by the comb of bristles 

 present upon the penultimate joint of the fourth pair of legs. The 

 little creatures steady the metatarsus of one hind limb with the 

 assistance of the other leg, and in this position tlie silk is combed off 

 the special pair of spinnerets by a series of very rapid kicking move- 

 ments. This flocculent silk adds very much to the efficiency of the 

 web in capturing prey. The little brown spiders may be seen popping 



