The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-06-23
THE KING OF SPIDERS,
Habits of the TarantuIa as Noted
by Naturalist.
A Silken Home Underground-Ferocit OF
the Insect Tigers as Displayed in
Their Pursuit of Prey - Its
Enemy, the Hawk.

ihc iaNhs
In wandering along the foothills of
Che Sierras after a rain, on what is
called adobe ground, the sharp-eyed OBJ
server will sometimes notice a sudden
movement of the EARTH A seeming
leaf or bit of the soil about as large as
silver dollar will drop, culver or
shake. Some little prescience on the
part of the walker will enable him to
discover the cause of this, and close
and careful examination will disclose
an oval spot, perhaps an inch and a
half across, that seems separated from
the surface. Now insert the point of
your knife into one side and lift. Sure
ly there is something holding back
Now you gain quarter of an inch and
obtain a glimpse into the black cavern
so uncovered of !. hairy, uncanny look
ing object, the tenant you are trying to
evict Another lift and something gives,
and you have opened the door of one of
the most cunningly devised and mar
velous structures in the entire animal
kingdom-the trap door of the king of
the spiders, one of the commonest but
perhaps least known insects of South
ern California; a huge, hairy fellow,
sometimes three inches across, men
ace to timid walkers and not particu-
larry appreciated by the professional
naturalist who is supposed to be en- rap
port with bugs and things.
The first one ever met, blood rela-
ton of the above-the Mygale auicularia
Of South America-was one stormy
night in the Gulf Stream, about two
hundred miles off Cape Florida. 1t was
blowing fresh, and about midnight a
rush overhead brought us on deck,
where we found that the schooner was
lying to, and near at hand was dis
mantled hulk. The latter had been
stripped in hurricane, hailed from
Trinidad, South America, and was
loaded with the choicest preserved fruits.
The only living creature aboard was one
of these gigantic spiders, that, when 1
rescued it from the bilge the next morn
ing, settled down into large saucer,
its claws or legs reaching to the edge on
either side-a most hideous and repul-
sive object, the large hairy body re-
sembling that of a plethoric mouse.
The monster lives IN South America,
in holes, and is close ally of the Cali
fornia species. 1t preys upon quite large
animals, birds the size of sparrow fall
ing victims to its web and mandibles,
and altogether it IS the most ferocous
and dreaded member of the insect tribe.
The Southern California Cousins equal
ly disagreeable, and as we pull it
struggling and ugly from it's den, the
type of the spider, with its divided body,
the abdomen attached by a slender
Pedicle, is before us. If we penetrate
into its interior organization we shall
find that it breathes like the scorpion
by lungs as well as air holes or trachee.
The infant spider has at first
four pairs of feet, like the grim adult
that seems all legs, fierce vertical man.
bibles ending in hollow points, that ex-
tend into tubes, through which poison
passes from poison reservoirs in the
head. They vary as to their lungs and
spinnerets; the large trap door spider
has four lung sacks, but the number of
splnnerets is restricted to two pairs.
Such are some of the general features of
the great spider, robbed of technical
garnishing.
Every move of the Cte,aiza Calitornica,
as the large trap door spider is called, in
the the construction of it's nest, is SEEM
lngly instigated by wisdom. The selec-
tlon OF locality is in adobe ground, that
Is as hard as Il stone in dry weather, and
the methods of building their traps can
not but excite the admiration of the OBJ
server. Their operations can best be
watched at night, but sometimes during
the day. When the site is chosen. the
worker begins to loosen the earth with it's
mandlbles, carrying it away. If the
ground is hard, the work is slow, but by
moving in a circle cavern or well as
large as a large thimble will be pro-
auced IN an hour, and in a day pit
lnree or four inches deep and an inch in
diameter will be dug. This accom-
pilshea, the silk department of the in
sect is brought into play. and the
sp,lnnerets are attached repeat
eaiy to the sides of the wall until the in
terror surface is covered with wall
paper OF the finest silk, perfectly water
ught. Generally the door is made
next, but sometimes before. In form
ing 1t the threads are passed across
.he opening until a platform is con-
structed of more or less sustaining
power; Upon this the spider heaps bits
VI adobe, dirt or other material, work
ing and binding it together with silk
nhtil 1t has thickness of an eighth of
an inch. The silken threads are put on
~ rotary motion of the SPIDERS body.
I'm. finally the upper portion is sprinkled
WIN powdered adobe, so that the cover
Is the exact color of the surrounding
ground, and as it has been made to fit
. Inc oritce or opening of the well per-
,Seetly' 1t is water tight. The door has
ueeh perhaps attached to the sides at
several points. These are all severed
oal one, which is now perfect hinge,
eiastlc and durable, and if we lift it up
vi The OOlnt of tho l-nifo - will bo fou,,d