The St. Johns herald., 1897-09-25
STREET OF SPIDERS.
CURIOUS DISCOVERIES MADE IN A
 FLORIDA THICKET.
Immense Webs Woven by Yellow Spiders. A Mysterious Disappearance Explained. FruitIike Crab-Tricks of Nature Pro- feet the Defenseless.


 A Mysterious Disappearance Explained
 A FruitIike Crab-Tricks of Nature Pro
 tect the Defenseless.
 Once, in attempting to force my way through the thick bay cedar underbrusf Of one of the smaller and outer keys o1 the Florida reef I suddenly broke into an opening which had the appearance nf a narrow street or trail. The brush was six or eight feet in height and re. markably thick, and the heat was intol. prabIe. The branches and leaves which were interlaced formed a perfect net. work and gave shelter to innumerable rrabs, which had taken possession of oId birds nests, while under foot the eggs and newly matched terms almost covered the ground.
 Once ill the opening or street it WAS found to be about seven feet across winding away out of sight, but my way was blocked by several curious obsta- oIas-a succession of webs stretched vertically across the pathway at inter- va15 ot five or six feet. They were of exra0r9i nary strength and were thrown
 gaise-t -n a 1naFyefc.,e manner. Ln the center Of each If these N4lken bar riers clung a huge yellow spides, so ug. iy and conspicuous that stopped be- fore the first doubting the evidence of my eyes, and as I looked the first yell low spider of the series disappeared. There was no doubt about it. At first so striking and gaudy, it slowly faded away, and through the web I could see other yellow spiders beyond, suggest ing that it was DO illusion.
 While I stood wondering in the hot sun the spider solved the mystery by appearing again, first dimly, then like many spiders quiyering in the strong light, finally resolving itself into one huge yellow fellow that moved like a pendulum to and fro and then stopped. I touched it gently with switch I held, whereupon it deliberately began to swing it's huge body, imparting to the entire web vibratory motion which increased in rapidity until the body of the spider began to grow fainter, and in few moments became invisible. It was all very simple when understood. The spider when alarmed began to swing, gradually increasing the motion until 1t disappeared or could not be fol- lowed by the eye. Thinking the case might be exceptional, I again touched the spider, and again it literally swung itself out of sight.
 Crawling beneath the web, con fronted the next spider, which also was yellow or saffron in color, with black, velvetlike markings, hanging in the sun like a great topaz, its web dotted with the remains of many feasts-emp= ty skeletons of insects, bits of pearly fish scales, perhaps dropped by some pass ing bird, a delicate feather and a mot ley array of flies and other insect folk. At first the spider paid me scant atten- tion, then l saw slight convulsive movement of it's legs as it imparted the first long swing to its hammocklike web that put this wonderful life saving device, for this it was, in motion. It was the spiders defense and protection from euomils.
 Certain birds undoubtedly preyed upon the spiders, and this faculty of mysteriously disappearing had on more than one occasion served it. we'll. could easily imagine the astonishment of the bird when darting down to seize the plump and showy spider to find that it had slipped away.
 There was much in this street of yell low spiders to distract the mind from the intense heat that poured down from the almost vertical sun. Ill the middle of the path, beyond turn, grew clump of cactus, with here and there ripe fruit rich ill the purple of full ma turity-a brilliant contrast to the green leaves. AS 1 stood watching the hermit crabs dropping from the bushes and scurrying away over the sand thought 1 saw a ripe fruit of the cactus move; then, to my amaZement, it passed dl- rectly out of sight, not after the fash ion of the spiders, but by slipping around one of the big leaves. almost expected to see the others follow 1t, but nothing of the kind occurred. l walked along and placed myself ill position to see behind the broad, flat, pear shaped leaf. There was the purple object, now nov ing cautiously around with the evident intention of keeping itself out of sight, and then I saw that it was a crab, crab with purple back the exact tint of the fruit, while its general shape, when the legs were tucked up beneath the body, made the crab mimic of the cactus fruit, protective resemblance so perfect that the crab was safe from sharp eyed enemies, and should have passed it by had it remained quiet, but the phenomenon of moving fruit at tracted my attention and led to it's dis covery.
 For some distance I followed this street of spiders, creeping beneath the webs when l could, and everywhere these tricks of nature to protect the de- fenseless were apparel. The eggs oI the gulls simulated 5he sand ill color; she little mantis, which clung to the ai. cedar, was the exact tint of the leaves and defied detection until acci- dentally brushed off. Over all life in the secluded spot nature had thrown her protecting mantle of mimicry.- New York Post
 Too Crude.