THE JUMPING SPIDER ON THE GARDEN WALL. 
339 
lings. On a slight movement of the object 
i its direction, it may surprise the observer 
y running backwards or sideways with just 
le same facility that it travels forward, 
houkl. however, a too sudden movement 
;artle it, it may astonish the experimenter 
y instantly vanishing from sight, just as if 
he brick had absorbed it. 
It has come from a hole between the 
rortar at the top of the wall, 
ust beneath the coping - 
tone, where, if the time is 
luring the early months of 
he year, it may have an egg 
ocoon. Quickly it runs over 
he wall, then suddenly halts 
—one might think that it 
lad heard something and 
vas listening. Then away 
t goes at the same rapid 
>ace, again halting just for 
m instant, and the next 
noment it is travelling in 
quite another direction ; its 
course being continually 
dianged as if it had a doubt 
which way it should travel. 
There is no doubt in the 
mind of the little creature ; its 
mission is of a very decided 
character; its object in being 
abroad in the bright sunlight 
is that of: dinner . Its rapid 
t u r n i n g movements are 
largely guided by every tiny 
fly which, in the course of its flight, nears 
the surface of the wall, and if one should 
alight to warm and sun itself on the bricks 
(which are so hot that they burn one’s 
hand to touch), it is almost certain that that 
will be the last alighting-place of that luckless 
fly. 
The little creature is provided on the 
front of its head with a set of four powerful 
eyes, the central pair of which, when seen 
under a magnifying lens, reminds one of huge 
motor-lamps, while still another set of four, 
two fairly large and two small, are placed on 
the summit of its head. When it suddenly 
changes its position it is to direct this battery 
of eyes to a new source, the slightest shadow 
or movement in almost any direction being 
instantly detected by them. 
To see the spider make a capture generally 
needs much patience, and if encouragement 
in that direction is required, one need not go 
farther afield than the spider itself, for its 
patience is often astonishing. I have per- 
sonally seen one wander over a hot wall in 
full sunlight for nearly two hours wituout 
effecting a capture, if our luck is favourable, 
of course, we may see a capture almost 
immediately. One word of warning, however, 
is needed to the over-enthusiastic observer, 
namely, that his presence too close to the 
spider may be the source of his own waiting 
and the spider not obtaining a meal, for space 
for the flies to approach must be allowed. 
These points duly attended 
to, our spider is seen to give 
an extra sudden swing round, 
almost at the very instant a 
fly has alighted on the lower 
half of the brick immediately 
below ; indeed, the spider 
had detected it even before 
it alighted. It is at least four 
inches away, and between it 
is a wide span of mortar bear- 
ing a small forest of moss 
growing amongst it, and 
separating the bricks. The 
spider has become deadly 
still, likewise the fly. Then 
the fly, quite unconscious of 
its danger, moves its head 
slightly to the right, a move- 
ment instantly followed by 
one to the left on the part of 
the spider, and both are still 
again. But only for a moment, 
for it immediately becomes 
obvious that the spider is 
moving, moving, too, by 
extraordinary and minute contortions of its 
body, while crouching low ; nevertheless, it is 
slowly approaching the edge of the moss 
forest in the mortar, but there is still 
approximately three inches separating the 
prey from its hunter. 
At the same instant that we realize that 
there is yet more space for the little spider to 
cover, we also realize that that space has been 
completely annihilated — has entirely ceased 
to be. The spider is grappling with the 
surprised fly, which is struggling with all its 
strength to escape (Fig. 3). Indeed, the 
stealthy hunter had accurately gauged the 
distance, and in the fraction of a second, 
with a tiger-like spring had hurled itself over 
the moss forest and some two inches of the 
brick on to the back of the fly. Its instan- 
taneous movement was much too quick for 
our eyes to follow, but there was no doubt as 
to how it got there. It had accomplished a 
long jump of twelve times its own length, or 
what, if performed at the same proportion by 
a man of six feet in height, would represent 
Fig. 2.— The Jumping Spicier shown in 
Fig. I as it appears when viewed 
through a reading-glass — It is shown out 
on a hunting foray, just when it has 
detected a fly on the brick immediately 
below that on which it is moving. 
