long Latin name given it by its describer.  In fact the name is longer than the animal itself—­Sco-lo-po-cryp-tops sex-spi-no-sus (Say)—­being its cognomen in full.  With such a handle attached to it, who can blame it for attempting to bite?  Yet, to the scientist up on his Latin, each part of the above name bears a definite and tangible meaning.  All the myriapods found in the woods and fields feed upon decaying vegetation, such as leaves, stems of weeds, and rotten wood, and in winter three or four species can usually be found within or beneath every decaying log or stump.  One species with very long legs, Scutigera forceps (Raf.), is often found in damp houses or in cellars.  It is sometimes called the “wall-sweeper,” on account of its rapid ungainly gait, and is even reputed to prey upon cockroaches and other household pests.

Spiders, which do not undergo such changes as do most of the common, six-footed insects, winter either as eggs or in the mature form.  The members of the “sedentary” or web-spinning group, as a rule, form nests in late autumn, in each of which are deposited from fifty to eighty eggs, which survive the winter and hatch in the spring, as soon as the food supply of gnats, flies, and mosquitoes appear.  The different forms of spiders’ nests are very interesting objects of study.  Some are those close-spun, flat, button-shaped objects, about half an inch in diameter, which are so common in winter on the under side of bark, chunks and flat rocks.  Others are balloon-shaped and attached to weeds.  Within the latter the young spiders often hatch in early winter, make their first meal off their empty egg cases, and then begin a struggle for existence, the stronger preying upon the weaker until the south winds blow again, when they emerge and scatter far and wide in search of more nutritious sustenance.

The “wandering” spiders never spin webs, but run actively about and pounce upon their prey with a tiger-like spring.  Six or eight of the larger species of this group winter in the mature form beneath logs and chunks, being often frozen solid during cold weather, but thawing out as healthy as ever when the temperature rises.  Retiring beneath the loose-fitting bark of hickory or maple trees, a number of the smaller tube-weaving spiders construct about themselves a protecting web of many layers of the finest silk.  Within this snug retreat they lie from November until April—­a handsome, small, black fellow, with green jaws and two orange spots on his abdomen, being the most common species found motionless within this seeming shroud of silk on a day in mid-winter.