The most conspicuous of the many species of spider seen in Madagascar is a large _Nephila_, a creature about an inch and a half long, with a spread of legs six or seven inches in diameter. It is handsomely marked with red and yellow, and may be noticed by scores in the centre of its geometric web stretching across the branches of trees. From the considerable distances spanned by the main guys and supports of its great net, this spider is called by the Malagasy _Mampìta-hàdy_, or “fosse-crosser”; and these main lines are strong enough to entangle small birds, for at the mission station at Ambàtoharànana a cardinal-bird and a kingfisher were both caught in these nets. The male spider is only about a quarter the size of the female as just described, and, sad to say, he frequently is caught and devoured by his affectionate spouse, after mating. Attempts have been made, and with some success, to employ the silk made by this spider in the manufacture of a woven fabric; but it is very doubtful whether such silk could be procured in such quantities as to be of commercial value. [Sidenote: BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS] Silk from the silkworm moth is produced to a considerable extent, and, as we have seen in speaking of native weaving, is employed in manufacturing a variety of handsome _làmbas_. The moth is a large and beautiful insect, with shades of buff and brown and yellow, and with a large eye-like spot on the hind wings. The caterpillars are fed on the leaves of the mulberry-trees and also on those of the _tapia_ (_Chrysopia sp._) shrub. Another moth, somewhat like the silk-producing one in colouring, has an extraordinary development of the hind wings, which have long delicate tail-like appendages; these have extremely narrow shafts and are enlarged at the ends. Their points have two spiral twists or folds, very graceful in appearance. There are four distinct eye-like spots near the centre of each wing, which are light buff in colour, with lemon-yellow. The insect measures eight and a half inches from shoulder to point of tail, and eight inches across the upper wings. It is allied to _Tropæa leto_. Some species of moth, very dark brown in colour, and yet beautifully marked, often fly into our houses at night, the female being much larger than the male. The Malagasy are afraid of seeing these almost black-looking insects, which they call _lòlom-pàty_ (“death-moths”), in their houses, as they think them presages of evil and death. Another moth, with death’s-head marking on its thorax, is also often seen. But the most beautiful of the Malagasy lepidoptera is a diurnal moth, which one would always call a butterfly—viz. the _Urania riphæa_, a large and lovely insect, with golden-green, crimson and black markings, and edged all round its wings and tails with delicate pure white. It is a curious fact that the nearest ally to this Madagascar species is a native of Hayti and Cuba (_U. sloana_), a remarkable instance of discontinuity of habitat.