CHAPTER IV
ABOUT WEBS
I don’t believe you are feeling a bit afraid of spiders now, are you? There is no reason why we should fear them, for they don’t bite or sting us; and if they did the poison that paralyses and kills their prey would not hurt us. Besides, they kill the insects that harm us. I saw a spider’s web once full of mosquitoes, and you know what worrying little pests they are. I was glad to see so many caught, but sorry for the spider, as they didn’t look a very substantial meal. Then you know how dangerous flies have been found to be, making people ill by poisoning their food, so it is a good thing that spiders help us to get rid of them.
Another reason to like spiders is for their webs. There is no animal or insect that makes anything quite so wonderful and beautiful as what these little creatures spin.
The spider’s web is really a snare for catching her food. The strands of it are so fine as often to be invisible in some lights even in the daytime, and of course quite invisible at night. Sometimes the beetle or flying insect is so strong that he can tear the web and get free, but not often, for the spider can do wonders with her thread. She spins ropes and throws them at her big prey and doesn’t go near it till it is bound and helpless.
Of course, there are many different kinds of spiders who spin different kinds of webs. In a hotter country than this there is one that is as big or rather bigger than your hand, and another called the Tarantula whose bite is supposed to be so poisonous that it can kill people, but this is very exaggerated.
A Beautiful Web.