. American spiders and their spinning work. A natural history of the orbweaving spiders of the United States, with special regard to their industry and habits. Spiders. Fi(i. 867. Dorsal Labyrinth apide; death feigning. But it is needless to multiply examples; let us turn to the animals with which we are here chiefly concerned. I have frequentlj' watched spiders in this condition, to determine tlie ])oiiit in question, and their behavior always impressed me as being a genuine feigning of death, and therefore was entirely within their volition. The evidence is of such an indefinite nature that
. American spiders and their spinning work. A natural history of the orbweaving spiders of the United States, with special regard to their industry and habits. Spiders. Fi(i. 867. Dorsal Labyrinth apide; death feigning. But it is needless to multiply examples; let us turn to the animals with which we are here chiefly concerned. I have frequentlj' watched spiders in this condition, to determine tlie ])oiiit in question, and their behavior always impressed me as being a genuine feigning of death, and therefore was entirely within their volition. The evidence is of such an indefinite nature that one can hardly venture to give it visible expression, but my conviction is none the less decided. I may say, however, that my ob- servations indicate that the spiders remained in this condition as long as there seemed to be any threat- ened danger; now and again the legs would be re- laxed slightlj', as though the creature were about getting ready to resume its normal condition, but at the slightest alarm withlield its purpose and relapsed into rigidity. The slight un- Not Fear clasping of the legs, the faint quivering indications of a purpose but Vol ' ^^ come to life, and then the instant suppression of the purpose untary. ^^'^^'^ ^^ many evidences that the power of volition was retained, and that the aranead might have at once recovered if it had been disposed to do so. Again, I think that I have never noticed anything like that gradual emergence from the kataplectic condition which one would naturally expect if the act were not a voluntary one. On the contrary, the spider inva- riably recovered, immediately sprang upon its legs, and hoisted itself to its snare, or ran vigorously away among the grasses. Two positions of the Labyrinth spider while in the act of death feign- ing are here presented, from a number of sketches made from Nature. Fig. 367 represents lier from a front view, leaning slightly upon one side. The two fore legs on the further side are doubled under the f
Size: 1525px × 1638px
Photo credit: © Central Historic Books / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectspiders, bookyear1889
