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SPIDERS
BY
CECIL WARBURTON, M.A.
Christ’s College
Zoologist to the Royal Agricultural
Society
Cambridge:
at the University Press
1912
Cambridge:
PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A.
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
With the exception of the coat of arms at the foot, the design on the title page is a reproduction of one used by the earliest known Cambridge printer, John Siberch, 1521
PREFACE
THE modest dimensions of this book are perhaps sufficient indication that it is not intended as an aid to the collector. There are about five hundred and fifty known species of spiders in the United Kingdom alone, and at least an equal number of pages would be needed to describe them.
Our concern is with the habits and modes of life of spiders—especially of such as are most frequently met with and most easily recognised, and the reader, especially if he is fortunate enough to spend an occasional holiday in southern Europe, will find little in the following pages which he cannot verify—or disprove—by his own observations. Indeed the hope that some of his readers may be induced to investigate on their own account has actuated the writer throughout, and has led him to lay considerable stress upon the methods of research and the ingeniously devised experiments by means of which whatever knowledge we possess has been obtained.
CECIL WARBURTON
Cambridge
March, 1912
CONTENTS
| CHAP. | PAGE | |
| I. |
A Survey of the Field. Evidences of spider industry. Where to look for spiders. Variety of habits |
1 |
| II. |
What is a Spider? The Arthropoda and their divisions. Arachnida. Characteristics of a spider. Spinnerets and their use |
5 |
| III. |
The Circular Snare. Foundation lines. The spiral with its viscid beads. The building of the snare. Why the spider is not caught in its own snare |
13 |
| IV. |
The Mental Powers of Spiders. The human standpoint. Instinct. Sight. Hearing. Smell. Taste. Memory and “educability” |
20 |
| V. |
Trap-snares and Balloons. Variations of the circular snare. The snare of Hyptiotes. Webs of Theridion and Linyphia. The iron railing and its aeronauts. A race congress. Gossamer. Geographical distribution |
30 |
| VI. |
Agelena. Its web. The spider and its behaviour in captivity. The platform and its carpet. The construction of the cocoon. Instinctive, not intelligent |
38 |
| VII. |
Water-Spiders. Marine spiders. The fresh-water spider. The diving bell, and how it is filled with air. Behaviour of the male. Winter and summer houses |
47 |
| VIII. |
Crab-Spiders.—Mimicry. The appearance of crab-spiders. Their haunts. Protective coloration and resemblance. Habits correlated with structure. Probable origin of “mimicry” |
52 |
| IX. |
Wolf-Spiders. General habits. Semi-aquatic species. Nomads and settlers. Structure. Eyes. Lycosa picta. A colony in full swing. The burrow. Egg-bags. Recognition of cocoons. Want of discrimination. The Tarantula. Its haunts and habits. The death-stroke. The burrow and its parapet. Sunning the cocoon. Carrying the young. Poisonous properties |
58 |
| X. |
Jumping Spiders. The Zebra Spider. Its structure. Its wonderful eyes. Hunting its prey. The use of the drag-line. Sight in jumping spiders. Love dances. Sham-fights. A remarkable piece of research |
76 |
| XI. |
Theraphosid Spiders. Sub-division of the Order. Mandibles. Atypus and its nest. Its habits. Aviculariidae. A giant spider. Trap-door nests. Method of burrowing. “Bird-eaters,” and their habits. Dugesiella. Poor sight but remarkable sense of touch. Psalmopoeus in captivity |
87 |
| XII. |
Stridulation. How sound is produced in Arthropoda. Its purposes. Popular mistakes. Spines and Keys. The purring spider |
105 |
| XIII. |
The Spinning Apparatus. Spinnerets. Their mobility. Spools and spigots. Glands. Arrangement in Epeira. No interweaving of lines. Functions of glands. Spinning operations. The Cribellum. The feet of spiders |