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Riddle of the St. Andrew's Cross Queen of Spinners |
Bird-Catching SpidersOf the large ground-dwelling spiders of the bird-catching type (Mygalomorphae), many fine species occur in Australia. The largest and most striking of these is the immense ginger-hued, hairy bird-catching spider (Selenotypus plumipes) of northern Australia, with a leg-spread of about six inches. As far as its life-history is concerned, we know nothing, and we know but little of its bird-catching activities. But, the capture of a well-grown chicken has been recorded, the captive being drawn partly down the entrance to the burrow. The large Nephila spiders, of which a number of species occur in Australia, are much more efficient sharers of birds than the garden spider. They suspend their huge webs, composed of beautiful golden silk, between trees;. the strands are exceptionally strong and elastic, and can snatch a hat off a person's head as one passes through the bush. The flight of large birds fairly powerful on the wing, is checked by contact with the adhesive mesh, and smaller birds are frequently trapped and held suspended until killed by the spider. The female spider has a purplish-brown abdomen about the size of a small plum; her long, dull-orange legs are banded with black. She hangs head-downwards in the centre of the web, and seldom troubles to conceal .herself. The males are in-significant pygmies in comparison with the great bulk of the female, and they live in the outskirts of her web, where they are easily overlooked. Small, silvery-looking spiders (Argyrodes antipodum), whose bodies glisten like dew-drops in the sunshine, often inhabit the webs of. the giant Nephilas, where they act as scavengers, consuming trapped insects too small to attract the attention of the mighty huntress.
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