Of the T arantula; by the Learned
Dr. M ead.
BH E Tarantula is a Spider o f Apulia o t the o&onocular kind;
th at is o f that fpecies that has eight eyes, and fpins webs; it has
eight legs, four on each fide, and in each leg three joints; from
the mouth proceed two darts, in fhape juft like to a hooked forceps,
-or crab’s claws; thefe are folid, and very {harp, fo that they can eafily
-pierce the skin; and between thofe and the fore legs there are two
little horns, which, I fuppofe, do anfiver to thofe bodies call’d from
their ufe in flies the feelers; becaufe as they do, lo this creature is observed
to move ’em very briskly when it approaches to its prey.
T h i s , as other Spiders do, propagates its fpecies b y laying eggs,
-which are very numerous 5 fo that there are found fometimes in the
female, when diflefted, a hundred or more 5 and thele are hatched
partly by the heat o f the mother, partly by that o f the fun, in about
itwenty or thirty days time.
I n the fummer months, efpecially when the heats are greateft, as
in the doer-days, the Tarantula creeping among the corn in the fields,
bites the mowers and paflengers. In the winter it lurks in holes, and
is fearcely feen j and if it does bite then, it is not venomous, neither
does it induce any ill fymptoms.
B u t in the hot weather, altho’ the pain of its bite is at firft no
greater than what is caufed by the fling of a bee, yet the part quickly
lifter is difcoloured with a livid, black, or yellowifh circle, and railed
iM H H
Plate XXXVIIt.