Chap. XIII.] 
SPIDERS. 
465 
whilst the envelope was formed, sheet after sheet, by- 
coils of the old web filled with the wings and limbs of 
insects of all descriptions, from large moths and butter- 
flies to mosquitoes and minute coleoptera. Each layer 
appeared to have been originally hung across the passage 
to intercept the expected prey ; and, when it had be- 
come surcharged with carcases, to have been loosened, 
tossed over by the wind or its own weight, and wrapped 
round the nucleus in the centre, the spider replacing it 
by a fresh sheet, to be in turn detached and added to 
the mass within. 
Separated by marked peculiarities both of structure 
and instinct, from the spiders which live in the open 
air, and busy themselves in providing food during the 
day, the My gale fasciata is not only sluggish in its 
habits, but disgusting in its form and dimensions. Its 
colour is a gloomy brown, interrupted by irregular 
blotches and faint bands (whence its trivial name) ; it is 
sparingly sprinkled with hairs, and its limbs, when ex- 
panded, stretch over an area of six to eight inches in 
diameter. It is familiar to Europeans in Ceylon, who 
have given it the name, and ascribed to it the fabulous 
propensities, of the Tarentula. 1 
The Mygale is found abundantly in the northern and 
eastern parts of the island, and occasionally in dark 
unfrequented apartments in the western province ; but 
its inclinations are solitary, and it shuns the busy traffic 
of towns. 
The largest specimens I have seen were at Grampola, 
in the vicinity of Kandy, and one taken in the store- 
1 Species of the true Tarentula are all of very small size, and per- 
are not uncommon in Ceylon ; they fectly harmless. 
ir h 
