ON ARACHNIDA. 
455 
It would therefore appear, that some caution is requisite, 
respecting the larger species. In endeavouring to avoid the 
Charybdis of credulity, we should take care not to stumble 
on the Scylla of imprudence. 
The araneides are very generally spread through all coun- 
tries, and found, in fact, in every habitable portion of the 
globe. Those of warm climates are larger than the spiders 
of temperate regions. The males and females live separately. 
The latter are more frequently met than the former, which 
do not approach the females but at the time of coupling, for 
fear of being devoured. Nevertheless, in some small species, 
both inhabit the same web ; the male, however, remains a 
little apart. All are extremely carnivorous, and live only by 
rapine. They seize flies and other insects, which fall into 
their nets. Those which construct no webs, such as the 
wandering araneides, catch their prey by running, or darting 
upon it from above ; others watch for it concealed under a 
leaf. The males often fall victims to the females, and the 
latter carry on a cruel war against each other when they 
meet. If one spider should happen to fall into the web of 
another, a desperate and mortal combat immediately takes 
place. When the two combatants are of equal strength, they 
wound each other reciprocally. The proprietor of the web 
is almost always the aggressor. The stranger remains on the 
defensive; but when the first finds itself the weaker of the 
two, it flies, and yields its web to the other, which never 
pursues, but remains, and profits by the labour of its adver- 
sary. It often occurs, according to Geoffroy, that some old 
araneides take possession by force of the web of a younger 
spider, because with the advance of age, the reservoir of the 
fluid which furnishes their threads becomes exhausted, and 
they can no longer construct a web, of which they, neverthe- 
less, have need, for the purpose of catching their prey ; they 
therefore compel a young one to give up its own. Nature, 
