^tle dumping 
Spider on the 
GardenWall 
®<y 
cJOHNJWARD.fes. 
Author of 1 i Some Nature Biographies “ Peeps Into Nature's IVaysf “ Life Histories oj Familiar 
Plants f etc. 
Illustrated with Original Photographs hy the Author. 
The photographs illustrating this short Nature study form a unique set of pictures, being the first that have 
ever been secured depicting the consecutive movements of this curious and interesting little spider when out 
hunting its prey. 
C 0 M M 0 N 
brick wall 
may not, on 
first con- 
sider a t ion, 
seem a very 
prof i t. abl e 
field for Natural History 
investigation, yet the reader 
whose choicest garden 
possession happens to be 
of that unfortunate order, 
need not, by any means, despair. Given 
a sunny aspect with a brick or stone 
wall, a wooden fence, a garden seat, or, 
less frequently, an ordinary window-frame, 
together with a fair amount of patience, 
the chances of witnessing a bold and fearless 
hunter stalking its prey with all the skill of 
the wild, at once become exceedingly 
favourable. 
Our hunter is a pretty little spider with 
brown and white zebra-like markings, and, 
in consequence, it is commonly known as 
the Zebra Spider. It is familiar almost 
everywhere in the British Isles from April 
until October or November, when it hiber- 
nates for the winter, appearing again in the 
spring with the advent of the flies on which 
it preys. 
Let us select a suitable wall facing full 
south and endeavour to observe the odd 
manoeuvres of this clever little animal while 
out on a hunting expedition. At first the 
eye will require a little practice in detecting 
the spider, but after it has once been recog- 
nized, it becomes comparatively easy to 
observe, and numerous 
examples will be found by 
carefully scanning suitable 
sites for them. 
Although a common brick 
wall is the most favoured 
situation, I would advise 
the amateur observer to 
give particular attention to 
dark - painted or tarred 
fences, for on these the little 
spider stands out conspicu- 
ously in the sunlight. On a brick w r all it so 
much resembles its surroundings that it is far 
more difficult to observe ; which feature may 
account for its particular favour for such 
situations, being there protected from the 
eyes of its natural enemies and also those of 
its prey. 
In Fig. l the spider is shown at natural 
size travelling down the surface of a wall, 
for the comparatively large female there 
shown is only about one-quarter of an inch 
in length, the males being smaller. _ If, 
however, we view it by means of a reading- 
glass we can observe its movements much 
more readily, and it then appears as shown 
in Fig. 2 . 
Its quick, jerking movements are, in them- 
selves, very amusing as it runs about the 
surface on which it is moving, its black 
shadow accompanying them. It is exceed- 
ingly bold, and allows one to examine it at 
quite close quarters without showing any 
alarm. If a finger, or a grass-blade, is placed 
on the brick near it, it instantly turns towards 
it and generally comes up to investigate 
Fig. 1. The Jumping Spider as it appears in 
the sunlight on a brick wall —natural size. 
