Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-05-22
ASPINWALL SPIDERS.
The Big Insects Which Sometimes Con
to America.

The Big Insects Which Sometimes Come
to America.
The Macon (Ga.) Telegraph has the fol-
lowing:
Look out for the tramps p said Corput.
the fruit-dealeI yesterday.
The Telegraph man was admiring the
bright buff color of bunch of bananas
yesterday, when big, ugly spider crawled
out and ambled along the counter He
was bundle of dark-brown fuzz about the
size of your thumb. into which were stuck
several long. black legs. He was tramp,
all the way from Aspinwall. And like
tramp who had stolen ride under a freight
car on a brakebeam his legs seemed
cramped from the long journey in the GREY
ices OF bunch CT bananas The poor
fellow was at a loss where to go. He was
thousands of miles from home, and friend
less, for people do not take kindly to big,
ugly spiders. He was tramp, and in a
strange country.
g We killed one here the other night
with body as big as a biscuit. His body
popped like a torpedo. They often come
in bananas, but we generally manage TO
kill them. Up at the old store one made
his escape. and made his home under the
counter. Then another escaped, and for a
long time we lost sight of them. One dav
we found a web under the counter, and on
looking closer we found the home of the
Two tramps. They had raised a large fam
lily OF spiders, and they were the cutesU
little things you would care to see. They
ran nimbly into the web if you made a
motion to strike them, and many day we
have watched them simply for the amuse-
ment. They caught every lv that came
within range, and now and then a bug
happened within their reach and varied
their bill Of fare. Although we knew they
were dangerous pets we did not disturb
them, for the reason that they seemed to be
industrious Hy-catchers, and were never
inclined to sting. One afternoon a new
clerk saw one big fellow run around a cor
ner OF the counter, and as he had never
seen spider of such enormous size, he
imagined that to allow it TO go at large
was equivalent to turning tiger loose,
and he killed the pet. The others ran out
and for about an hour the new clerk had
about as much as he could stand up to kill
ing spiders"
" DO they ever bite?"
Yes; but it is a rare occurrence. They
light like wild cats, and they are high tenn
pered, but they never trouble anybody I'M
less aroused and leased. Although there
are millions of punches of bananas brought
to this country every season, and many
thousand spider steals his way across with
them, you never hear of any one being
stung. They are very peculiar things and
dlt1er widely in their habits from the COM
mon spider of this country, which makes
web like the center-piece of rising-sun
crazy quilt. They make a kind of a nest
and then spread out lines of web IN every
direction. On this single line, which is as
small as silken thread they run with ease
hanging to it with their long, flexible legs
When danger threatens they have a way of
drawing in the lines, and, budding to-
gether, await the attack of the foe. When
thus disturbed, they make prodigious leaps,
and arrange in circle around the nest,
which they seem to guard with jealous
care. Then, when provoked, they run all
over the attacking party. They are game.
and put up an ugly fight"