the rocks and the stems of trees, and
along the sunny paths, where the forest meets the open country, the
_Epeira_ and her congeners, the true net-weaving spiders, extend their
lacework, the grace of their designs being even less attractive than the
beauty of the creatures that elaborate them.

Those that live in the woods select with singular sagacity the
bridle-paths and narrow passages for expanding their nets; no doubt
perceiving that the larger insects frequent these openings for facility
of movement through the jungle; and that the smaller ones are carried
towards them by the currents of air. These nets are stretched across the
path from four to eight feet above the ground, hung from projecting
shoots, and attached, if possible, to thorny shrubs; and sometimes
exhibit the most remarkable scenes of carnage and destruction. I have
taken down a ball as large as a man's head consisting of successive
layers rolled together, in the heart of which was the den of the family,
whilst the envelope was formed, sheet after sheet, by coils of the old
web filled with the wings and limbs of insects of all descriptions, from
the largest moths and butterflies to mosquitoes and minute coleoptera.
Each layer appeared to have been originally suspended across the passage
to intercept the expected prey; and, as it became surcharged with
carcases, it was loosened, tossed over by the wind or its own weight,
and wrapped round the nucleus in the centre, the spider replacing it by
a fresh sheet, to be in turn detached and added to the mass within.

Walckenaer has described a species of large size, under the name of
_Olios Taprobanius_, which is very common and conspicuous from the fiery
hue of the under surface, the remainder being covered with gray hair so
short and fine that the body seems almost denuded. It spins a
moderate-sized web, hung vertically between two sets of strong lines,
stretched one above the other athwart the pathways. Some of the
spider-cords thus carried horizontally from tree to tree at a
considerable height from the ground are so strong as to cause a painful
check across the face when moving quickly against them; and more than
once in riding I have had my hat lifted off my head by a single
thread.[1]

[Footnote 1: Over the country generally are scattered species of
_Gasteracantha_, remarkable for their firm shell-covered bodies, with
projecting knobs arranged in pairs. In habit these anomalous-looking
_Epeiridae_ a