Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-04-30

/. WONDER TALK ABour sP1Dn.s.
>SPecies That Have Strange ways-Thsa,
Dreaded Foe the wssp.
"Spiders are wonderfully fond Of the music
made by stringed instruments" said an enso-
mologist to a writer for The SrAa. "It 10 not
because they enjoy melody, but simply for the
reason that the sounds TO their earn resemble
the buzzing Of captive flies. By gently touch
ing the strings Of guitar one can often cause
spiders to come down the walls or from the
ceilings. They will even walk over TIE strings
and while doing 80 they appear 10 be eagerly
searching for something. moving about ex-
citedly and looking fierce and hungry.
"A Kind OF spider native to South America
Is remarkable for the great length Of its legs
and has a very singular method Of defending
itself When attacked il gathers its fee, to-
gether' fastening them 10 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 an cnemv to strike at There 10
another species which tights by throwing net
about Its adversary. / have seen a duel be-
tween two individuals, in which each tried to
entsngle the other in SHARES eunningly cast,
the dexterity with which they avoided capture
being wonderful Al length one wss tripped,
and presently the successful conibatant began
latter being soon wrapped in q silvery cocoon,
which was its winding sheet
among the most remarkable spiders 10 the
Dolomedes, which runs over tho surface Of
water In pursuit OF its prey and dives to escape
from its enemies. Stranger still is the Argy-
roneta which builds its house wherein it laws
It's eggs and rears its young at the bottom Of
streams. Some species are exceedingly fere-
cious, though none more so than the huge gray
Lycosa, with a black rim round its middle, which
10 nm 1i<vhf hss
herce creature, which lives partly by catching
birds, has been known to pursue men on herse-
back
''Dr. W. II. Hudson tells Of such an advsa-
ture which he met with while riding asross
plain covered with dry grass. Pursuing his
way at an easy trot he suddenly observed q
great spider chasing him. leaping swiftly along
and keeping up with the horse He aimed q
blow with his whip at the ferecious insect, and
the point of the lash struck the ground close
TO 1t, when 1t instantly leaped upon and ran up
the lash. IL 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 formidable in appear
their four hind feet like pugilists, threatening
the adversary. Then, dropping upon all eight
feet, they charge to the attack.
wAsPs THEIR GREATEST ENEMrEs.
1.-The greatest enemies Of spiders are warps
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 il has peralyzed
the victim by singing it, drags the now help
less SPIDER to hole. Placing it in the bottom
OF the hole the captor lays an egg alongside
of II; then, coming out, it fills up and obliter-
ates the hole with dust and rubbish, 1ying 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
raxrf. Al ~
winged and perfect insect, ready to continue
the war against the spider tribe.
spiders are singularly defenseless animals
lhelr small cutting weapons and supplies of
poison afford little protection against the at
tacks Of their insect foes. These latter. being
winged, are able to swoop down from above.
the mselves protected by invulnerable shields
and armed with deadly stiugs. With relation
to their foes spiders are placed by nature in a
situation very similar to that of human beings
having soft and unprotected bodies, possess
ing 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 il the
case with mankind
DIR. Hudson says that this superior intelli-
gence is closely related 10 the web with which
the spider is provided. Imagine the case OF
an a. oOfedi uldu DOEu Win q cord OF great
length attached to his waist, which could either
be dragged after him or carried in q coil Ex-
perience would teach him to put it TO use and
practice would make him more and more skill
full in handling it. He would begin by EMPLOY
ing it, as the monkey does its prehensiie tail
to swing himself from branch to branch. and
finally, to escape from an enemy or in pursuit
OF his prey. ne would be able by means of his
cord to drop himself with safety from the tall
est trees or fly down the steepest precipices
He would also utilize it for binding branches
together and building himself a refuge. In
close fight he would endcavor to eutangle his
adversary, ana at last he would learn to make
a snare OF it 10 capture other animals
TO all these and to a hundred other uses the
spider has put her web. And when We see bar
spread her beautiful geometric snare, held by
lines fixed to widely separated points, while
she sits concealed in her web-lined retrs eat
among the leaves where every touch on the
far-reaching structure is telegraphed to her by
the communicating lines faithfully a IL a
nerve had been touched, We must admire the
wonderful perfection to which she has attained
in the use Of her cord. BT these means she is
able to conquer creatures too swift and strong
for her and make them her prey. When wo
see her repairing damages, weighing her light
fabric in windy weather with pebbles or sticks
as fisherman weights his net, or cutting loose
captive, whose great strength threatens the
destruction Of the web, we begin TO perceive
that this wonderful arachnId possesses reason
OF highly developed kind"
o