FOR SENIORS AND JUNIORS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 85

FOR SENIORS AND JUNIORS.

by Magisteb, to whom all communications mu3t bs addressed.) A NOTE ON SPIDERS. [This was put into type two or three weeks ago as am encouragement for two or thr-ee young observers who wanted to know something about spiders; but I have had to hold it over to make room for correspondence. Magistbr.] Now for an extract or two from a most interesting little book, " By-paths in Nature," by Frank Stephens. It contains 72 illustrations, is published by the Religious Tract Society, and costs only half * crowd. Of the 13 chapters in it, four — "'Gossamer," "Lyoosa, the Wolf Spider," " The Wooing -of Aranea," and " Tho Jumping Spider," ought to be of special inter*et to my Observers' Club. The extracts are from the chapter '' Lvcosa: The Spider Wolf." "'The Wolf {Lycosa) is the one we shall hunt to-day: a eavage, implacable YVebr Wolf who preys upon flies and tender insects, a very bogey to the tiny flylets. Hi« cousin, a relative who rejoices in tho name of 'The Strategist' (Dylomedes), is a clever, artful spider who ambuscades hi« prey by a thousand wiles : while another ominously-named relation is ' The Butcher" (Sphasus). A fourth and much more distant member of the family is called ' The Fierce One* (Clobiona atrox); while, last of all, cornea the brother of the wolf, ' The Pirate' (Lycosa piratica); a truly bloodcurdling assortment of names, well deserved for the family certainly lives up to its reputation." Then follows an acocunt of the "Wolf" on his raft, his ineffectual attempt to escape capture, and other details. Then his sister is described: — " His sister ie not far away. We »h»il have to stoop and hunt for her. I want to show you ths Lady Wolf, for you will, as usual, find her more entertaining than her •pouse. Beat the grass a little and drive her from her tangled jungle into the open. Quick! There she is, running furiously along, almost panting in her hurry. Where's the pill-box? Now we have eecured her. Place a strip of glass over the top of the box, through which we can watch her. " She ds no larger than her brother the Pirate, you notice, but not so smart. Sha has adopted a sombre habit more in keep-* ing with the earth and the marshy tracts whereon she knes to roam, and where she secures much rich meat. She is fur-clad, too, like the Pirate, and oan, if 6o disposed, take an occasional run upon the water. Here is a fat fly, full of life and strength, sweeping along upon his gauzy wings, each one of which glitters with the colours of a hundred tiny rainbows. We rrill alip our huntress out of her pill-box and see if she will try conclusions »vith him. Gently! That's right. Now, madaino, jour meal is before you. Go in and win. '* See how her ringed legs devour the earth as she rushes forward, eager in the pursuit of her prey. I thought she would Snd the big fly to her taste. He, poor fellow! is sunning himself and busily ■brushing his large *ront leg*, for ffe is a dandy, and cannot endure a speck of dust upon his attire. There she goes, swift and straight in headlong haste, like a bolt from the bow! In an instant she has seized iira. Ho is overwhelmed by the abruptness of the attack —so sudden and so deadly. She has ssized upon poor Mastei Fly, but he will not give in without a light, for it is a case of life or death *vith him, and he knows it. "Do you hear the shrill buzz of verror a« lie struggle* in her gra*p? Surely it must be very disconcerting to hiu antagonist ! His wings are beating the air with thousands of quick, vibrating strokes; but, unlike Madame Aran«&, she will not bind them with a silken cord; there i» no sticky web to entangle and hold him captive. It ia a case of sheer strength, with the advantage on the side of the spider, for ske has deadly, poisoned jaws. Still, this buzzing, active fly seems to be a match for ■her; she has him fast in her claws, but ha ia tugging to be free, trying- to rise and fly away, for flies have strength which j.ye poor mortals can hardly estimate. *' See how they struggle, like two wellrcatched wrestlers, each straining to the nrmost! Our fly seems even more than she c&n cope with. Look! He actually rk«3 in the air, beating his wings and putting forth all his strength in the struggle for C'reedom. But Lycosa, like a bulldog, never rslinquishc3 her hold: he rises, but she still clings to him, and is lifted from the ground. Her legs are seizing him; pair by pair they are locked about him, their claws gripping him tightly. Her head, ■with its eight gleaming- eyes, is drawing nearer and nearer to him; her ' falces" — jews —are opening, to meet in his body and deliver their poison, which stupefies but does not kill " Hi 3 struggles giov,' leis « they full together to the ground, where he is at her mercy. She now drags his body away to i*-8r der —.i tiny hole somewhere within the tar . .-ass and weed; —there, like some hez. i->rey, to devour it, an-d then —off again m se»ich of jnore. " Bui we have not yet seen all. Let ua flush another of those savago boast*: perhaps she may hu\e e\en ir.oie to show us than the one v/ho is now »o busy sucking tho juicos of that once gay fly. "Yes; here conies another, carrjing a. airange-looking parcel on hec body. It i 3 not an inoect, although we might, from ■what we have already seen, mistake it for one. No, my friend, that strange parcel which s-ho carries with cuch ease and care it her cocoon, her nursery, her saok of eggc. Our 6tay-at-horae Trici.ds who live in, nets and snares hang up their egg* in Uttle sacks, and watch them jealously in

J the intervals of meals. Not so our vagaJ bond mother. She dare not leave her precious burden at home for a minute, for ih3re are many hungry eyes all too ready to detect her new-laid eggs, and avail themselves of the opportunity of a rich fatvet. So, like Jack in the old Mummer pl-ay, she must perforce carry her family on her back. Like her prototype the Wolf, *he has maternal instincts, and that flat, p&Ae-brown bag of eggs represents all that is -worth living for — her young. It is more to her, even, than her ceaseless search for focd, and if deprived of her Back she bides away and pines ; the choicest, fattest giuba pass unnoticed, and she slowly fade» and dies. All honour to you, madame; wu cannot, from mere wanton curiosity, rob you of your little parcel. You are safe; we v/ill net even imprison you in our pillbox, for we respect your feelings too highly. Fs«a on your way unharmed, for we stand in respectful wonder before the great my«tsry of motherhood. "' Let me now tell you of that strange coooon. It has a weak band in the middle, which opens to enable the tin}, helpless epiderlings, when they have cracked their frail shells, to escape. " But what becomes of them? ' You shall see. This is the season of \he young Lycosas. Be patient; we shall see "one more cf these spider mothers presently, who will perhaps solve jour ! riddle. Beat the grass again, and watch. There goes a pale, furry-looking spider. Surely there seems something familiar about that rapid movement and those ringed legs which scamper over the damp . ground . But the colour is strange ; it is I no longer the dark form of the Wolf, 1 shading into a paler tint at the edges. Madame, we must disturb you, even at the risk of giving offence. You shall not ba hurt, though. "She ie now sere within our pill-box, and va can examine her at our leisure. That jrrej fuiry appearance is easily explained. You iati see for yourself — she is covered j with l living clock of tiny spiders, all holdI ing on to heir and riding on her back. | By a lie* by they will drop off and begin life on ilietr own account. Thank you, m-a-dams , -?r« will detain you and jour family no 'on.arer. You may go — and off ! she icuttles, well pleased, no doubt, at ' regaining her freedom." j Isn't that a capital description? Perhaps you will r-'ant to buy that book now. I 6e.TCss.-y, however, that it is not in stock, b-.it any bookseller will be glad to order iv for you. The most likely booksellers to have it in stock are, I imagine, Stark and Co. and ihs Bible Depot