The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-07-15
STREETS OF YELLOW SPIDERS.
Curious Discovery in Florida Thicket-A
Disappearance Explained-A Fruitlike
Crab.
New York Post

Once, in attempting to force my way
through the thick bay cedar underbrush
of one of the smaller and outer keys of
the Florida reef, suddenly broke into
an opening which had the appearance of
y narrow street or trail. The brush was
six OF eight feet in height and remerka-
ply thick, and the heat was intolerable.
The branches and leaves which were in
ferlaced formed perfect network, and
gave shelter to innumerable crabs, which
had taken possession of old birds nests,
while under foot the eggs and newly
Matched terms almost covered the ground.
Once in the opening or street, it. was
found to be about seven feet across, wind
ing away out of sight; but my way was
blocked by several curious obstacles-a
succession of webs stretched vertically
across the pathway at intervals of five or
six feet. They were of extraordinary
strength, and were thrown out and poised
in marvellous manner. In the centre
of each of these silken barriers chung a
huge yellow spider, so ugly and conspicu-
GUS that I stopped before the first doubt
ing the evidence of my eyes; and as
looked, the first yellow spider of the series
disappeared. There was no doubt about
it: at first so striking and gaudy, it slow
ly faded away, and through the web
could see other yellow spiders beyond,
suggesting that it was no illusion.
While stood wondering in the hot sun,
the spider solved the mystery by appear
ing again, first dimly, then like any
spiders ouivering in the strong light,
finally resolving itself into one huge yell
low fellow that moved like pendulum to
and fro and then stopped I touched it
gently with a.switch l held, whereupon
it deliberately began to swing its huge
body imparting to the entire web a
Migratory motion which increased in
rapidity until the body of the spider be-
gan to grow fainter, and in few
moments became invisible. 1t was all
very simple when understood; the spider
when alarmed began to swing, gradually
increasing the motion until it disappeared
or could not be followed by the eye.
Thinking the case might be exceptional,
I again touched the spider, and again 1T
literally swung itself out of sight.
Crawling beneath the web, confronted
the next spider, which also was yellow or
saffron in color, with black velvet-like
markings; hanging in the sun like a
great topaz, its web dotted with the re-
mains of many feasts, empty skeletons of
insects, bits of pearly fsh-scales, perhaps
dropped by some passing bird, a delicate
feather, and molly array of flies and
other insect-folk. AT first the spider paid
me scant attention; then l saw a slight
convulsive movement of its legs as 1t i'm
parted the first long swing to its ham
mock-like web that put this wonderful
life-saving device, for this it was, in mo
ton. 1t was the spiders defence and
protection from enemies. Certain birds
Undoubtedly preyed upon the spiders, and
this faculty of mysteriously disappearing
had on more than one occasion served ii
well. | could easily imagine the astonish-
ment Of the bird when darting down tc
seize the plump and snowy spider to find
that it had slipped away.
There was much in this street of yellow
spiders to distract the mind from the in.
tense heat that poured down from the
almost vertical sun. In the middle Of the
path, beyond turn, grew clump OF
cactus, with here and there ripe fruit
rich in the purple of full maturity-a
brilliant contrast to the green leaves. AS
I stood watching the hermit-crabs drop
ping from the bushes and scurrying away
over the sand, J. thought l saw ripe
fruit of the cactus move; then, to my
amazement, it passed directly out OF
sight; not after the fashion of the spiders,
.DuU Dy slipping AROUND one OIL Une Dig
leaves. l almost expected to see the
others follow it, but nothing of the kind
occurred. l walked along and placed
myself in a position to see behind the
broad, fat, pearshaped leaf. There was
the purple object, now moving cautiously
around with the evident intention OF
keeping itself out of sight, and then saw
that it was crab, crab with a purple
back the exact tint of the fruit while its
general shape, when the legs were tucked
up beneath the body, made the crab g
mimic of the cactus fruit, a 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 attracted my attention and led to its
discovery.
For some distance I followed his street
of spiders, creeping beneath the webs
when l could, and everywhere these tricks
of nature to protect the defenceless were
apparent. The eggs of the gulls simulat
ed the sand in color; the little mantis
which chung to the big cedar, was the
exact tint Of the leaves and defed detec
ton until accidentally brushed off
Over all life in the secluded spot nature
had thrown her protecting mantle Of
mimicry. Fl.