. Elements of zoology, to accompany the field and laboratory study of animals. Zoology. THE SPIDER 113. silk are; in the construction of cross-hairs in telescopes and, in medicine, as a narcotic in case of fevers, — a temporary fad. Poisonous Spiders. — Spiders are feared by many people from a belief that they are very poisonous, even fatally so. Spiders have, indeed, biting jaws provided with poison-glands, and their bite is often fatal to insects and even to small birds and mam- mals. But most spiders cannot spread the jaws sufficiently to make a bite in the human skin, and even the largest
. Elements of zoology, to accompany the field and laboratory study of animals. Zoology. THE SPIDER 113. silk are; in the construction of cross-hairs in telescopes and, in medicine, as a narcotic in case of fevers, — a temporary fad. Poisonous Spiders. — Spiders are feared by many people from a belief that they are very poisonous, even fatally so. Spiders have, indeed, biting jaws provided with poison-glands, and their bite is often fatal to insects and even to small birds and mam- mals. But most spiders cannot spread the jaws sufficiently to make a bite in the human skin, and even the largest forms seem to inflict but a slight wound, scarcely ever greater than that of a mosquito. The stories of the severe effects of the bite of the Tarantula, one of the Ly- cosidae, are entirely fabulous. Spiders show a marked sexual dimorphism. Particularly among the orb-weavers the males are much smaller than the females of the same species, but the legs of the male are rela- tively the longer and stronger. The male is usually shorter lived than the female, for the latter has often to watch the egg-cocoons, or carry them about with her until the young hatch out. The male also builds less perfect webs than the female. The relation existing between mated pairs is often peculiar. The male is frequently killed and eaten by the female; but if the male can overcome the female she may fall his victim. Among wandering spiders there is often a selection by the female from among several rivals, which en- gage in severe battles with each other. Fig. 114. — Ocyale (Pisaurina) undata. Half grown, natural size, resting on a screen door, using it as a sort of artificial web. Photo, by Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Davenport, Charles Benedict, 1866-1944; Davenport, Gertrude Anna Crotty, 1866-
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1911
