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Riddle of the St. Andrew's Cross Queen of Spinners |
The Tailed SpiderThe remarkable little tailed spider (Arachnura higginsii) has the abdomen produced into an elongated "tail" tipped with three minute, black points. Its elongated form gives it a somewhat scorpion-like appearance, but it is quite harmless, Its color is very variable, ranging from pale greyish-brown to black; striking pink or reddish varieties sometimes occur. Although, as a rule, living in solitary isolation, vast colonies containing many thousands of individuals are sometimes found, their tangled, irregular webs extending over an area of many square feet. Curious, elongate, grey, silken egg-sacs are suspended in a chain in the centre of each snare, the spider taking up her position below the last sac. The male is a minute red creature, more closely resembling a mite than a spider. In autumn, he may be found climbing .actively along the strands of the female's web, or clinging to the undersurface of her body. Several very remarkable spiders occur in Australia, which do not make the usual silken snares for the capture of their prey, but secure it by other and amazingly ingenious means. These interesting spiders are the Stick-Spider, the Death's Head Spider, and the Magnificent and Hairy Imperial Spiders.
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