St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-09-18
QUEER SPIDERS.
Some OF Them Walk the Waite
but All Of Them Fear, Wasns

y
Washington Star
Spiders are wonderfully fond of the
music made by stringed instruments, :"
said an entomologist to writer for the
Star. 'It is not because they enjoy
melody, but simply for the reason that
the sounds up their ears resemble the
buzZing of captive flies. BY gently
touching the strings of guitar one can
often cause spiders to come down the
walls or from the ceiling. They will
even walk over the strings, and while
doing so they appear to be eagerly
searching for something, moving about
excitedly and looking fierce and hun
cry.
"a kind of spider native to South
America IS remarkable for the great
length of its legs. and has a singular
method of defending itself. When at
tackled it gathers its feet together, fast
enIng them to the center of its web, and
gyrates with the velocity Of whirligig,
SO that it appears like mist on the
web. Offering no point for the enemy to
strike at. There is another species
which fights by throwing a net about
its adversary. l have seen a duel be-
tween two individuals, in which each
tried to entangle the other in Snares
cunningly cast, the deXterity with
which they avoided capture being won
derful. At length one was tripped, and
presently the successful combatant
began revolving round and round her
opponent, the latter being soon wrapped
in sllvery cocoon, which was its wind
ing sheet.
Among the most remarkable spiders
is the Doomedes. which runs over the
surface of water in pursuit of its prey
and dives to escape from its enemies.
Stranger still is the Argyroneta. which
builds its house wherein it lays its eggs
and rears its young at the bottom of
| streams. Some species are exceedingly
| ferOclouS, though none more so than
| the huge gray Lycosa. with black rim
round its middle, which will chase peo-
pie on slight provOcatiOn. This fierce
| creature, which lives partly by catching
birds, has been known to pursue men
| OH horseback
"Dr. w. II. Hudson tells of such an
| adventure which he met with while rid
ing across a plain covered with dry
| grass. Pursuing his way at an easy
trot ne suddenly observed great spider
chasing him, leaping swiftly along and
Keeping up with the horse. He aimed
a blow with his whip at the ferocious
| insect, and the point of the lash struck
| leaped upon and ran up the lash. 1t
was actually within three or four
inches of the hand that held the whip
before the latter was suddenly dropped.
These great hairy spiders are very for
mldable in appearance. When ap-
| preached they stand upon their four
| hind feet. like pugillsts, threatening
the adversary. Then, dropping upon
all eight feet. they charge to the attack.
''The greatest enemies of spiders are
wasps, which do not kill them outright
customarily, but simply disable them
for the purpose of utilizing them while
living as food for their young. The
wasp, as soon as it has paralyZed the
| victim by singing it. drags the now
| helpless spider to hole. Placing it in
| the bottom of the hole the captor lays
an egg alongside of it; then. coming
| out. it fills up and obliterates the hole
with dust and rubbish, flying away
| thereupOn in quest of other prey. AS
soon as it is Matched the young wasp
| grub feeds upon the living body of the
unhappy spider, waxing fat and finally
crawling out of the hole a winged and
perfect insect, ready to continue the
war against the spider tribe.
animals. Their small cutting weapons
and supplies of poison afford little pro-
| lection against the attacks of their in
| sect foes. These latter, being winged,
| are able to swoop down from above,
| themselves protected by invulnerable
| shields and armed with deadly stings
| With relation to their foes spiders are
| placed by nature in situation very
similar 70 that of human beings, having
| soft and unprotected bodies, possessing
no natural weapons worth mentioning
and being equipped with very slight
| muscular strength compared with the
| animals they have to contend against.
| Their survival in creation. where causes
| for their swift determination would
| seem to exist, is due to the exercise of
superior intelligence and cunning, as is
| the case with mankind.
DIR. Hudson says that this superior
| intelligence is closely related to the web
with which the spider is provided. I'M
| agine the case of an aboreal mean born
| with a cord Of great length attached to
his waist. which could either be dragged
after HIM or carried in coil. Expert
| ence would teach him to put it to use,
| and practice would make him more and
| more skIllful in handling. He would
| begin by employing il, as the monkey
| does its prehensile tail, to swing himself
| from branch to branch, and finally, to
escape from an enemy or in pursuit of
his prev, he would be able by means OF
| his cord to drop himself with safety
| from the tallest trees or fly down the
steepest precipices. He would also
utilize it for binding branches together
| and building himself refuge. In a
close fight he would endeayor to entan-
| gle his adversary, and at last be would
| learn to make a snare of it to capture
| other animals.
ITO all these and to hundred other
| uses the spider has put her web. And
| when we see her spread her beautiful
geometric snare, held by lines fixed to
widely separated points, while she sits
| concealed in her web-llned retreat
| among the leaves where every touch
on the far-reaching structure is tele-
graphed to her by the communicating
| lines>as faithfully as if a nerve had beeu
touched, we must admire the wonderful
perfection to which she has attained III
| the use of her cord. BY these means she
| is able to conquer creatures too swift
| and strong for her and make them bel
prev. When we see her repairing DAM
| ages, weighing her light fabric in windy
weather with pebbles or sticks, as
fisherman weights his net, or cutting
loose a captive, whose great strength
threatens the destruction of the web, we
| begin to perceive that this wonderful
| arachnid possesses reason of mighty
| developed kind"
They Would Take the Same.
Detroit Tribune.
The tall, thin missionary with a bald
head and red nose was impressed with