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Updated: May 14, 2025
In a tropical country every one knows that a very few hours occasion the putrefaction of all dead animal substances; nevertheless these spiders are to be kept fresh and good, like our tins of preserved meats, to be eaten when required. One, two, or even three spiders, according to their size, the mason-fly deposits in each cell, and then closes it hermetically with clay.
Observations on Nature in the Tropics The Dung Beetle The Mason-fly Spiders Luminous Insects Efforts of a Naturalist Dogs Worried by Leeches Tropical Diseases Malaria Causes of Infection Disappearance of the "Mina" Poisonous Water Well-digging Elephants. How little can the inhabitant of a cold or temperate climate appreciate the vast amount of "life" in a tropical country.
It is wonderful to observe with what rapidity all kinds of dung are removed by these beetles. This is effected by the active process of rolling the loads instead of carrying, by which method a large mass is transported at once. The mason-fly is also a ball-maker, but she carries her load and builds an elaborate nest.
In due time the young family hatch, eat their allowance of spiders, undergo their torpid change, and emerge from their clay mansion complete mason-flies. It is not at all uncommon to find a gun well loaded with spiders, clay and grubs, some mason-fly having chosen the barrel for his location.
A bunch of keys will invite a settlement of one of the smaller species, who make its nest in the tube of a key, which it also fills with minute spiders. In attacking the spider, the mason-fly his a choice of his antagonist, and he takes good care to have a preponderance of weight on his own side.
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