| Show Q A NOT MFT VERY A Mr TC SPIDERS ARE akrc IN U 1 V UK Y uain U b the famous tarantula reported to be one of the terrors of the arid parts of the southwestern states and northern rn mexico and which bulks so I 1 large a rge in the imagination and the fears of those persons who hove friends on the border is really not the tarantula of history and of fable one of the numerous students of spiders and the tarantula Is i s a spider says of ahat terrifying insect that it Is the tarantula ta a kind of spider found in some of the warmer parts part of italy find and spain when full grown lils it is about the size of a chestnut and of a brown color its bite was ni at one time supposed to be dangerous says this auth authority orli V I 1 an and d io cause a kind of lancing drin cIng d disease is but it Is now known not noi to be worse worse than han the sting of a common wasp 11 it Is very likely pint piat when the early spanish sh explorers came upon the great spider of the southwest and seeing a good deal of resemblance to the tarantula of the old world those explorers n not ot having been scientific entomologists they ca called cited the new spider balder a ia tarantula and the name has stuck ciuck I 1 there Is no doubt that the big spider of artona arizona Z now new mexico california old mexico and many other places Is a relative of the tarantula of spain and italy and in color disposition and in the matter of his hairy halry legs a dayi layman nun might easily mistake him for the tarap tarantula tula but perhaps there is not much in a name so sd far as spiders go and it isi ig just as well to avoid if possible that particular spider which so mapy many americans American call the tarantula though it Is quite certain that the mean acsa of his disposition has bas been exaggerated J H u ym emerton JS merton erton one of the spider experts of the me world writes after years of intimate study of spiders when undisturbed spiders never bite anything except insects useful us ns their food but when attacked or cornered all species open their jaws and bite if they can depending on the size and strength of their jaws the stories of death insanity tind and lameness from the bites of spiders ore probably untrue the species of spider are hard to number tho the spiders of north norih america have been studied studied by hentz emerton keyserling and thorell and no doubt by fx a number of other men who have specialized ciali zed in insects and it Is estimated that there are species in north america the spider has bus heart liver stoma stomach ch intestines thorax lungs tin and d several other interesting organs as for example the spinning glands and spinnerets erets it Is recorded that a good many experiments have been made to throw light on the effect 0 of if spider bites on man A distinguished entomologist named bertkau allowed various kinds of spiders to bite his ennd some of them drew blood giving if n sensation like that of a n sharp needle prick the wounds smarted arid and swelled somewhat and I 1 ached itched when rubbed producing very much the sas sensation atlon of mosquito bites buano but no permanent ill effects followed another entomologist named blackwell also allowed specimens of the to ito bite his hand lie ile reported eliat lie felt no particular pain and little inflammation followed and the wounds soon healed S still till another entomologist named Dole dolleschall schall reported that be had bad shut up op small birds with the mynnie one of the biggest and fiercest fleice st of the spider tribe the birds soon oon died atter after being bitten he allowed one of his bla fingers to ber be bitten by it large jumping spider the pain was severe and tola bis ong finger and then hla his hand end and arm became lame but the soreness soon passed away the its ik one the best known of the large and heavy spiders it Is a native of tropical and subtropical america it Is said that it catches and kills lulls small birds with its poisonous bite and then hen sucks bucks the blood of its victim the body of this spider Is pitch black and Is covered with long reddish brown habr it has eight eyes placed close together in the front of its head it la is a close kinsman to the so called bird spider of surinam the official name of that american spider called the tarantula Is CaU fornIca and it Is one of the trapdoor spiders it ts Is common in N new mexico arizona find and california according t to john sterling kingsley this spider digs its hole in ft alne soil which when dry Is lsne nearly hily ns as hard as aa brick these spider holes are sometimes nearly an inch in diameter and vary in depth from two and three inches to nearly n foa foot the mouth ot the hole is enlarged and then closed by a thick cover which fits it tightly that cover fits into the mouth of the hole very much ets as a cork does doer in the neck of a bottled bottle the cover Is made of dirt fastened together with fl threads ireada and like the hole is lined with silk and ts Is fastened by a thick hinge made of spiders silk when the cover Is closed it looks exactly like the mund ground around it this like many other species of spider ta la nocturnal n al in its habits raising its I 1 ts trapdoor trapdoor at night and sallying forth in search ol of food its ita chief food being insects there ther Is so ranch much diversity of opinion as to tho the effect of the bite of these spiders that in lulng where they are a man should practice safety first aist andrake and take no chances them |
