. Annual report. Entomological Society of Ontario; Insect pests; Insects. Fig. 56. pass to new hunting-grounds. The French call such threads fils de la Vierge* Some- times the gossamer spider secures its thread and then spreads its limbs, and trusts itself to the summer air—the thread lengthening as it goes. Such spiders have been seen to alight on the topmost steeple of York Minster.* But the most remarkable of the weav- ing spiders is, I think, Argyroneta aqua- tica. This creature forms its web below the surface of the water. It shuns stag- nant pools and rapid streams, but frequents deep di
. Annual report. Entomological Society of Ontario; Insect pests; Insects. Fig. 56. pass to new hunting-grounds. The French call such threads fils de la Vierge* Some- times the gossamer spider secures its thread and then spreads its limbs, and trusts itself to the summer air—the thread lengthening as it goes. Such spiders have been seen to alight on the topmost steeple of York Minster.* But the most remarkable of the weav- ing spiders is, I think, Argyroneta aqua- tica. This creature forms its web below the surface of the water. It shuns stag- nant pools and rapid streams, but frequents deep ditches in which there is a gentle cur- rent. First it spreads its stays from on6 aquatic plant to another till sufficient anchorage is secured. Then from these it raises a closely-woven air and water •tight dome, like the half of an egg-shell. Its next task is to supply tlis habitation with air, and to expel the water. Its proceedings for this purpose seem almost miraculous. It rises to the surface, throws itself over with a sudden jerk, and entraps, with a film of web guided by its hindmost legs, a globule of air about the size of a buck-shot. With this it scuttles down to its habitation, and dives beneath it. It then sets free its globule of air which rises to the top of the dome, and displaces some of the water. Repeated efforts fully accomplish its work ; and the spider has then an elegant, comfortable and secure dwelling-place. In it it lays its eggs, enclosing them in a cocoon or sack. Occasionally it makes an expedition for food, or to renew the air in its habitation. On the approach of winter it becomes torpid, and in this condition it remains till spring. As a boy, in one of the "Home Counties " in England, 1 often sat by a sluggish stream, and watched these spiders at their work. The domestic spider (Clubiona domestical) is not a pleasant object. Its web is untidy, and its own appearance disgusting, but it intru- des everywhere. It " layeth hold with
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectinsects, bookyear1872
