NATURE NOTES

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22341, 3 March 1938, Page 6 (Supplement)

NATURE NOTES

Most people look on all eightlegged animals as spiders so that (Tune Adamson, of Wataroa, South ftfestiand, can be excused for thinking- that the animal with eight long legs which she found in the copper was a spider. Actually it does JSelong to the group of animals to fcrhich the spider belongs, a group includes scorpions, mites, and ticks. Some people call the various toscies of harvestmen, daddy-long-legs, but this name is best confined •3 the two-winged flies with six tog legs. From the name harvesttOan we would expect to find the fcfiimals common in harvest fields. fflbia is the case in England where JSe name originated, and in France jjfehere the commonest name is haymaker. In New Zealand harvestknen are found very commonly in "gardens, where small insects are MWOdant, and are probably just 9s common in grass and bush areas "M they are among hay or cereal

I A true insect has its body divided Into three easily recognisable parts, Jaead, chest, and abdomen, A true afrider has the head and chest fused together. There is always, however, • distinct waist between the head, chest, and the abdomen. In the case «f the harvestman the whole of the oody is in one piece as is shown in B. The body is just a small object much like a large grain of wheat In size and shape. To the naked eye there is nothing noticeable , about the body except a little raised knob. Examination with a lens afaows this knob to have on either aide of it a little black dot, the eye. *. In addition to the actual jaws, all i Barvestmen have two pairs of feeler. '-. like structures which aid them in the \ obtaining of food. In some native species one of these pairs is exceptionally long. I have seen them «sed in moving as well as in helping to stuff small insects into the mouth. The eight legs are exceptionally Jong, occasionally up to 20 times the ■ f length of the body. If you pick up ' • harvestman by one leg it will Usually be left in your hand as the - animal rushes away to safety. This .ability to break the legs easily must ;«elp it frequently in escaping from «aemles. Owing to this likelihood of losing a leg. it has been given the power of growing a new one ■o we may happen to find a harvestroan with one or more legs only ;MK grown. Some kinds, when ■toned, trust to the length of leg ..mid speed to escape from danger; : *thers remain absolutely still. Even « m this case they are not defenceless but can emit an evil-smelling *£** from glands near the base of •he first pair of legs. Quite good entertainment may be obtained by '.keeping a harvestman in captivity gad watching it clean its legs. He *«1 grasp one close to the basal

THE HARVESTMAN

(By L. W. McCaskill)

joint of the jaws and slowly pull it through, at the same time nibbling industriously at any dirt adhering to it.

• All harvestmen seem to be carni- \ Vorous, that is they feed on animal ! food such as insects, young spiders, - and even young harvestmen. They . seem very fond of aphis on our ; garden'plants and therefore should not be killed. They are supposed to quench their thirst with drops of dew. Probably they do most of their feeding at night, but at this time of the year I have often seen them feeding on aphis in broad daylight. Unlike spiders which merely suck the juices of their captives, harvestmen carl not only suck the juices but chew up and swallow solid particles. No web or nest or egg cocoon is made. The female with her pro* trusible egg-placer hides the eggs in cracks in the ground, under flat stones, or beneath the loose bark of trees, usually before the approach of winter. In the spring, these eggs hatch into minute animals which look just like adult harvestmen except in size. They grow just as do insects by shedding their skins as fast as they outgrow them. If a cast skin is studied with a lens it will be seen to stand up with a slit down the back and with the skin of each leg perfect down to the tiny claw. And we cannot help marvelling at the legs which seem so thread-like and yet have an outer covering which can be shed. "The Heaving Roses of the Hedge Are Stirred" The heaving roses of the hedge are stirred By the sweet breath of summer, and the bird Makes from within his jocund voice be heard. The winds that kiss the roses sweep the sea Of uncut grass, whose billows rolling free Half drown the hedges which part lea from lea. But soon shall look the wondering roses down Upon an empty field cut close and brown, That lifts no more its height against their own. And in a little while those roses blight, Leaf after leaf shall flutter from their height, And on the reaped fields lie pink and white. And yet again the bird that sings so high Shall ask the snow for alms with piteous cry: Take . fright in his bewildering bower, and die. —CANON DIXON. NOTICES Readers are Invited to send questions which will be answered as fully as possible in these columns. Readers of "The Press Junior" and Shipmates and Sunbeams are asked to walk up the stairs when they visit "The Press"