The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1875-05-06
pearance of the structure after being

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The spider is never, apparently, on
her guard, and is always either Fishing
or mending the net" the proverb about
: catching weasel asleep being equally
applicable to this wide-awake, feather
less fy-catcher. She is not bad ba-
rometer either, for when rain is threat
ened- especially those warm, summer
showers that fill the earth with fragrance
and set the blackbirds rich contralto
caroling through the air-this spider
) may be seen busily engaged arranging
her "parlor" for her welcome guests,
tine flies, whom she invites to walk in,"
knowing that the coming rain will drive
them for shelter to the nearest bush or
building.
In striking contrast to the jolly open
air life of the garden spider is the dismal
existence that can hardly be called life
passed by many common house spiders.
Constructing web of strong, cloth-like
texture, slung like hammock, in some
out-of -the-way corner, her life is spent in
state of chronic semi-destitution, wait
ing for the infatuated fly that may acct
dentally drop in. Her powers of en-
durance must be something wonderful.
When hunger can be borne no longer
this spider-a determined cannibal when
nothing better can be had-will start on
a hunting expedition after other spiders
of smaller kind, exercising in the ne
farious quest good deal of cunning.
The house spider passes the winter in
both the egg and perfect form. The
writer on the 10th of February reused a
large, torpid house spider from its sleep,
which slowly and with much difficulty
made its way up the wall to crevice in
the ceiling, evidently thinking with the
sluggard: You have walked me too
soon; must slumber again" On the
same date, Feb. 10-a cold, frosty day
a cocoon that was observed to be turning
darker colored than others was opened
and found to be fell Of perfectly formed
young spiders, nearly black. Some of
them began to move, and one fell out Of the
nest on TO some paper beneath, when, on
moving the paper, the young straggler was
| found hanging to it, four or five inches
below, proving that as soon as spiders
are Matched they have the power of at
taching themselves to any object they
| touch, by line of their own making
strong enough to bear them. They evil
IDENTIFY knew it was too early to separate,
for, on being left to themselves, they
were soon after found huddled together
in round heap, each in the shape the
old ones assume when Stimulating death.
One of the prettiest, as it is certainly
one of the most entertaining, of our ma
tive spiders is small jumping species,
called by naturalists SaIticus scenicus
which almost any sunny day in summer
may be seen lodging about on the win
dow-sill to get within leaping distance
of some unconscious fly, on which it
will spring like diminutive tiger, with
fatal precision. Beautifully marked
with black and white or black and
brown stripes, this active little hunter
manages to pick up a living without the
trouble of manufacturing a web. The
extraordinary maneuvers practiced by it
are extremely amusing, and to any
sportsman fond of stalking his game
quiet study of this little creatures
method of getting near its prey without
being seen might repay itself.
Perhaps the smallest of our native
spiders, as it is also the most handsome
ly shaped, is the active, ever-on-the-move
gossamer (AraneG 0btertrie). AS the
principle of the diving bell was known
to and utilized by an aquatic species of
spider ages before its adoption by man,
so the art of flying through the air with
out wings was regularly practiced by the
tiny gossamer spider long before Mont
golfer and the earliest aeronauts con-
structed their first balloons. Running
to the topmost point of a garden gate or
railing, it will elevate its abdomen and
shoot out a streaming line until it is long
enough to bear the weight of its small
body, when it will spring into the air and
GO floating on the current, with the gauZy
thread cleaning in the autumn sun.
Some entomologists affirm that this mys-
FERROUS little animal: that has so long
been puzzle to them has the power of
shooting out its thread toward any OBJ
ject it pleases. 1t is hardly possible,
however, that such an impalpable, filmy
substance, so exceedingly fine as to be
quite invisible except when flashing in
the sunshine, can do otherwise than go
with the prevalent current of air.
rb hny 11,,, a.
during the summer, it is only toward the
end of autumn that they appear at ali
numerous. Whence come they in such
immense numbers some years, compared
with others, covering our fields and
lawns at dewy eve with an invisible net
work, which the morning sun transforms
into brilliant veil, clothing the earth as
with a garment of silvery gauze, studded
with liquid gers, until the dew evapo-
rates and leaves them again at liberty to
resume their aerial flights?
Beside the varieties already noticed
there are other wanderers that might be
studied with both pleasure and profit
There is, for instance, the long-legged
shepherd spider, that may be seen at any
time in summer, particularly in the hay
field, always apparently in desperate
hurry to be in time either for feast or a
fray. When that blessed millennium ar
rives when the lion shall lie down with
the lamb, the shepherd spider and our old
friend, daddy-long-legs, will, no doubt,
make capital pair, and, forgetting their
previous mortal feud, will live long to-
gether and be, as the story-books say,
"hsppy ever after" All our native
spiders are comparatively harmless to
man, except one found occasionally in
cellars, which causes a painful swelling
by its bite, though this has been doubted
by some careful observers. In some
tropical countries, however, the bites of
certain large spiders are considered very
painful, if not dangerous; and Nine. |
Marian's pathetic picture of a large |
spider killing humming- bird, dragged |
from its nest, often doubted, hes been |
confirmed by later travellers. Alas, poor
humming-bird! In danger of extermina-
ton, not from bird or beast of prey, but
from the dictates of heartless fashion,
by which thy joyous life is sacrificed,
that thy bright little body may adorn my
lady's head gear!
Perhaps enough has been written
about spiders to induce some of our
readers to show little more considera-
ton toward these useful, but often per-