The sense of touch is extremely well developed in these spiders, but
in sight, hearing and smell they are strangely deficient. No response
whatever, was obtained to either high or low notes. A cricket sang for
hours quite close to a spider which had been kept hungry for several
days, without attracting any attention. It is very remarkable, by
the way, that insects show no instinctive dread of these formidable
creatures, not attempting to keep at a distance, and indeed frequently
running over them in trying to find a way out of the cage. Nor do the
spiders seem to be at all guided by smell; they evince no knowledge of
the presence of insects which emit a strong odour, nor do they react
to such tests as those to which the garden-spider was subjected unless
strong irritants such as chlorine are employed, in the perception of
which it is perhaps unnecessary that smell in the strict sense should
take any part.
They have eight eyes—two of them round and rather business-like in
appearance, and the others oval or pear-shaped—and they are very
sensitive to light, retreating at once from the direct rays of the
sun or from a light flashed on them, but they do not appear to _see_
anything at all, recognising neither friends nor enemies by sight,
however close at hand. It was far otherwise with a wolf-spider in the
same cage. Running towards the Dugesiella it was clearly aware of it at
a distance of several inches, and could not be persuaded to approach
nearer. But the supremacy of the sense of touch is most striking when
the spiders are courting. When the male is seeking the female he seems
quite unaware of her proximity unless he accidentally brushes up
against her. If he loses contact for a moment he is quite at sea and
wanders blindly about, turning, perhaps, to the left when the least
motion to the right would bring them together again. This frequently
happens when he has accidentally touched the female with one of the
hind legs. He immediately turns about, and if she is still there, all
is well, but if she has chanced to move out of reach, he is quite at a
loss. Neither sight nor sound nor smell guide him, but touch only. The
delicacy of this sense, however, is quite remarkable. He seems to be
aware at once of the nature of the object which touches him, assuming
a threatening attitude if the touch is hostile, or pouncing instantly
if hungry and the touch is that of a passing insect. If, however, the
insect is lucky enough to escape, it is in no danger of pursuit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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