THE SPIDER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2690, 4 October 1905, Page 67

THE SPIDER.

The spider is one of the most successful animals in the struggle for existence. It has adapted itself to life under almost every condition, in all latitudes and in all temperatures. It has even become adapted to a water life, and, making a nest down in the ■water, it manages to live very comfortably and safely. * -»

Spiders vary much in size, from the tiny garden spider to a South Amercan form tha^ preys on humming birds. One Queensland ground spider is longer in the b&dy than a " blue wren."

They are mostly protectively coloured. When collecting, it is a rule that animals protectively :oloured generally have no other means of protection, and so these quiet'y coloured animals can be safely taken. If, on th« other hand, an animal is dangerous or objectionable, it is usually brightly coloured, for it is an advantage to its enemies to let them know it is not good to ©at, or that it is dangerous, and had better be left alone. It also is an obvious advantage to the animal itself. So the objectionable or dangerous .animals are generally conspicuous or pretty; at least, they are easily seen. They are labelled dangerotis to advertise their objectionable properties. So beware of the brightly coloured '"or pretty. To illustrate this rule, there is only one dangerous spicier about Melbourne. It is rajh'er small, a brilliant glossy black, with bright red spots or a stripe on its abdomen. It is labelled dangerous, and warns people to beware. ■ lis bite will serioxisly inconvenience a- man for a few days, though the i animal probably has not poison enough to kill a human- being.

■ The spider, with this one exception, is strictly non-poisonous to us. They are not as poisonous as the. common mosquito, which will raise blisters on many . people. It is hard to account for the fear many people have of spiders. They are extremely valuable animals and do no harm. As*' they arc camivorovis they do an immense amount of good by destroying destructive insects, and charge us nothing for their work. No animal is more interesting as regards habits. All degrees of development can be found amongst spideis, from the hunting spider to the web-spinning garden spider, snaring a plentiful supply of food with its beautiful geometric web. In the same way p*eople dread the toad and the "horse-stinger," two valuable friends. The unfortunate " triantelope " hais suffered much for this unreasoning and unreasonable fear. It is one of the most valuable of spiders, and destroys large numbers of blow flies, destructive beetles, etc. The proper name for it is Yoconia; but since it somewhat resembles in size and form the tarantula, a poisonous Mediterranean spider, that name has been wrongly applied to it. People would not know what was meant if one asked for Voconia, so the name "triantelope" has been adoptea for this harmless fiy-catcher. It is wrong to call it a trantula. In the same way, " goanna "' has been adopted as the common name of the big Victorian lace-lizard. It is wrong to call it an iguana.. The iguana is an American lizard, which is not found in Australia.

The spider as an insect-destroyer demands respect. Her appetite is apparently insatiable. Sir John Lubbock, now Lord Avebury, the well-known authority on spiders, bees, ants, etc., presents the matter vividly when he shows that a full-sized man,' eating at the same rate, would require " a whole fat ox for breakfast, an ox and five sheep for dinner, and for supper two bullocks, . eight sheep, and four hogs, and just before retiring nearly four barrels of fresh fish." So her appetite is tremendous, but she is a wasteful feeder. She crushes the victim and generally only sucks the juices, discarding the more solid parts. A man eating in this manner would require several chops for breakfast. This question of food has so far ' prevented much use being made of the spider's silk for commercial purposes. Gloves have been made, and were said to be more durable than those made of silk spun by the silkworm; but the feeding is a serious item.