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Riddle of the St. Andrew's Cross Queen of Spinners |
A Fascinating SightThis dispersal of spiderlings is a fascinating spectacle. Choosing a clear, warm day for their venture, the infant spiders, in a frenzy of activity, race wildly up and down fence-posts and other prominent objects. At last, one, perched upon the summit of its support, raises itself high upon its legs, and, elevating its abdomen, emits several strands of the finest silk from its spinnerets. As the threads lengthen, the breeze, or even a current of warm air rising from the sun-heated ground, pulls at them. Then the spiderling, releasing its hold, is lifted up and borne away over the tree-tops on its silken parachute. Where great numbers of spiderlings are departing on their aerial manoeuvres at the same time, the scene resembles a miniature fireworks display. The spider-ling has no control over the direction of its flight, it is wholly at the mercy of the prevailing breeze; but when it decides to descend, this is effected by rolling the strands into a loose ball between the legs. Once upon the ground, the spiderling abandons its parachute and .seeks safety from waiting enemies. Where a large migration of spiderlings has alighted, the herbage is sometimes matted with a dense covering of gossamer, a phenomenon which has given rise to strange beliefs, the gossamer, it is said, being "down from angels' wings." The number of spiderlings in such a dispersal is truly enormous, and the infant mortality must be extremely high.
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