The St. Johns herald., 1889-03-21
THE GARDEN SPIDER.
Some Interesting Experiments with This
 Ingenious Insect.

Inc GarGGn SD der tEpcl"a dl2dema) IS
 one Of the most beautiful, in form and color,
 of the many hundred species we have in England. says C9:1n.bc,a' Jour1lal The man.
 ner il which t spIns It's web-certainly the
 most regular i1 make-disp.ays great inge-
 nuity iu t!ic way the web $ secured to sus tain : sudden Straln on any part of it. We have been watching several experlments i with this spider, of ;Fh;ch the following are ' Q few or the EOSt interesting:
 Having an Oid fern case, with sides and
 top all glass.we filed the bottom with earth,
 placing 9 few sticks firmly in the soil, so l that the spiders would have some projec- : tens to secure their webs to- The first i spider we placed i'll !hC case was very fine ! specimen, nIcety marked on the top of the
 abdomen. N . took her from Gn old laurel
 tree in when there were several young i ones. The first day she remained crawling about on the ground; but on looking next
 morning, we found a perfect web, spun ] horizontally across the caSe, about halfway
 up: and Cn rlCgIIfying tho ends Of the web i that were fastened 70 the gIass-Which was
 very sI1coth-Wc discovered tho spider had i trayel out the ends Of tho WCh-iineS, ana i had fastened them to the glass by means of
 a guEC2y substance, thus giving it Q greater
 power of adhcsICn than by trusting to ! single cord. We placed a small hOrSe-hy in i tho case, where it soon became cntangled l in the web, the spider immediately rushing ! dOgn, 9elZlHg, and killing 1t. S13 then car
 ried 1t to the top of the glass, and in four
 minutes had sucked the moisture out oft. i She then wrapped it loosely round with
 web, leaving only one Inc to 1t, by which | sine carefully lowered It, for about two l inches through a space in tho net; thon cut [ el,c1 t,oy. hn lot 1t i faIto the ground.
 ! After this we placed four flies m the case, i three of which were speedily caught. The 1 spider having evidently eaten enough, she disposed of these flies in a different manner 1 from the first. Running to eacn in turn. she turned the fly rapidly round and round
 with ncr front legs; at the same tune, two distinct webs kept wlnulng round the fly from the Gp:nncretS, until 1t was CncaSed in such a bag Of web that the fly could not DC
 seen. She then hung them in different
 parts Of the web, eating two of them the
 same night Thinking the flies so wrapped
 up would be aic-tiGht, we detached one
 from the web, leaving 1t exposed to the air for tL-co days. Although tho weather was
 very hot, we found, on carefully openng the
 case, that tho dead fly was quite fresh, and
 when smashed between the fingers was in
 a porfCs iy juicy condition. This clearly
 shows their wonderful instinct in preserV- ing food for future meals.
 Cno d2y we placed in this case large reaLfy, winch immediately flew through
 the web, tearing 1t in destructive man. ncr. Tho spider at once came down and re-
 paired It; and in c few minutes the fly was once more in the web, struggling hard.
 This time, the spider came within about
 l,1c 1N
 fast to three of tho outside lines of the net,
 and then running quickly over the back of the fly, she made the cord fast on the other sides. On this cord VIC noticed tiny beads hanging, of clear-I0olIiGg substance, which, as the fly struggled, adhered to it's wings, impeding it's movements. Leaving the fy for nearly two minutes, by which time he was almost exhausted, the spider once more drew near, and quickly had hIm by the back. Swaying her body from side to side at the same time, she soon bound him with three cords, which she guided about over the fly with her hind-feet III wonderfully rapid manner. She then pierced hIm on the side of the trunk, from which place she did not again loose until the fly was dead. Making g slight repast, she bound the remains securely in the web, for future meals. This same spider we have now Last September she completely de- strOyed her web, and spun bright yellow cocoon On tho top of the glass, and laid, as near as we have yet examined, about three hundred and sixty eggs. She has since then remained hanging on this cocoon. Her body before sho laid the eggs was as large l as a small bean; 1t is now (January) not l much larger than Q gram of rapo-seed. She | refuses al food, and appears in dormant, l ii not a dying state.
 There was another old spider, of very | dusky colors, which VIC placed in largo | glass jar. A.thOugL h3 was a very large | one, he did not erect any wo6, but used to | try and catch the GIoS VIC placed in the jar | by sneal1ing around the glass to them while | they were resting. 4 few days after, we | introduced younger spider, about three | parts grown, which qIic..ly made a very strcng and useful web. Tho old spider took | no notice of the newcomer until tl0 younger spider Lad c0molcscl Lis homo and made all | comfortable. Then the cd Cre carefully climbed into tho net O. UG5, attacked and killed tho owner and took possession After this VIC placed several 1e3 in tic jar, some of which injured part Of tho web, the spider not attempting to repair the damage, not being able evidently to produce s web, through cd ace OF iniury. To show the power spiders havo Of knowing what insects they can safely attc-:l, VIC placed two large ants, which I.cro nc.tcr5 CT workers, in . web. When t.o spider c2rEo down a2d saw who the visitors were, Lo feli from the web to the bottom cf tLo lH, T-loro ho lay seem- ingly paralyzed With fear. We then re- moved the ants. The sp.jcr did not return to his web for thirty E:-e minutes, and then in an apparently Frightened state.
 WcUscl to feed d female ep;ior with fly every morning; and sEo bCcalo so used 10 the habit, that Gt last, when yro shook the net, she would come and tit}lo the l.y from between our fingers. tc;latciy, she died at the end Of the season uiJer laying cOcoOnful of Cgg3.
 In experimenting in GiEeTcnt ways with some Of the small insects, many hCars may be pleasantly spent, greatly Gl;ii;..g a rich store of knowledge a5 t0 i D., F-ay u ', hich things are endowed according to thelr nature Of living.
 A Diabcli:;tl Tot.
 The brutality with which newly married people are treated by the.r jestj1s friends is constantly receiving frc5h Illustration. 1 At a recent Boston wedding 6 c5np3o Of SDOTfiVo TShH.,5 d:rCO-c-c.l tLN f-, n nm