234 
WEB-SPIDERS. 
winter covers up the aperture with silk and retires to the deeper parts to 
hibernate. In certain districts in the south of Europe these Lycosidce are dreaded 
by the peasants, and fabulous accounts were given of the deleterious effects of 
their poison. The bite was said to be the cause of a disease of an epileptic 
nature called tarantism, and this could only be cured by music of certain 
kinds, which worked the sufferer up to a state of frenzy. Another family 
(P isauridce) differs in having the eyes of the front row separated by a wide space 
from the base of the mandibles. In this group Pisaura mirctbilis is a common 
British spider, living in woods and fields, and at the breeding season constructing 
amongst grass or shrubs a large nest, open at the bottom. In this she lays her 
eggs, enveloping them in a thick cocoon which is carried about in her mandibles; 
but when the eggs are hatched, she retires to the nest and remains there with her 
young. The raft-spider ( Dolomedes fimbriatus ) is a large and handsome species, 
frequenting the borders of lakes and marshes, and owing its name to its habit of 
constructing a raft of leaves upon which it floats on the surface of the water. It can 
run with speed upon the water, and does not hesitate to plunge beneath the surface 
or run along the submerged stems of aquatic plants in chase of prey. The mother 
carries her cocoon in her mandibles; but at the time of hatching fastens it to some 
plant near the edge of the water. 
The tribe Saltigradce, or jumping spiders, contains the family Attidce, all of 
which are of small or medium size, with a broad square head upon which the eyes 
are arranged somewhat as 
if% 
jumping spiders {Epiblemum scenicum ). a, Female ; b, Male ; 
c, Female (nat. size); d, Arrangement of eyes. 
in the Lycosidce ; the 
anterior four being set in a 
straight line upon the front 
of the face, while the 
middle pair are of enormous 
size. The legs are stout, 
rather short, and, a rare 
thing in spiders, the third 
leg; is often the longest: 
there are only two claws, 
the place of the lower claw 
being occupied by hair-tufts. For moulting, hibernation, and egg-laying, the jumping 
spiders spin a small saccular nest, which in the latter case is frequently open at one 
or both ends. In this the eggs are laid and hatched, and the young remain for some 
time under their mother’s protection. Certain species depart from the normal type 
of structure of the others and closely resemble ants. This is brought about by the 
globular form of the abdomen, and a sharp constriction in the hinder half of the 
cephalothorax, so that the body appears to be divisible into three parts, as in an insect. 
Moreover, these spiders have learnt to walk with the gait of an ant, holding up a pair 
of its legs to simulate the antennas. Thus disguised, they live in the company of 
ants, and avoid the persecution to which they would be subjected if their identity 
were not concealed. Why the ants refrain from destroying them is unknown. 
These spiders spin no snare, and are dependent upon agility and great keenness of 
vision for the capture of prey. Sighting an insect at a distance, and eagerly 
