148 LETTERS ON ENTOMOLOGY. 
LETTER XV. 
I believe, my dear friend, that I have not 
yet mentioned several insects, which have a 
very unjust prejudice and dislike attached to 
their names, therefore I intend to expatiate a little 
upon these unfortunate victims of calumny, and 
try to vindicate their fame. Spiders are in some 
respects very amiable ; for instance, they will ex- 
pose their own lives to protect their young ones. 
This wonderful attachment Bonnet put to a de- 
cisive test. He threw a spider with her bag of 
eggs into the pitfall of a large lion-ant, a ferocious 
insect which conceals itself at the bottom of a 
hole, and whose history I shall presently give 
you. The spider endeavoured to run away, but 
was not sufficiently active to prevent her bag 
from being seized, and pulled under the sand 
by her enemy. She struggled to prevent this 
with all her might, and when the bag gave way 
from its fastening, she seized it with her jaws, 
but in vain ; the lion-ant was the stronger, and 
dragged it under the sand. The unfortunate 
