Chap. XIII.] 



SP1DEKS. 



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 Mygale 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. 



H H 



