They understand the fatal blow, either in the neck or under the chin, a thing which the Epeira does not understand; but, just because of this talent, they are specialists.

Their province is the Domestic Bee.
Animals are a little like ourselves: they excel in an art only on condition of specializing in it.

The Epeira, who, being omnivorous, is obliged to generalize, abandons scientific methods and makes up for this by distilling a poison capable of producing torpor and even death, no matter what the point attacked.
Recognizing the large variety of game, we wonder how the Epeira manages not to hesitate amid those many diverse forms, how, for instance, she passes from the Locust to the Butterfly, so different in appearance.

To attribute to her as a guide an extensive zoological knowledge were wildly in excess of what we may reasonably expect of her poor intelligence.

The thing moves, therefore it is worth catching: this formula seems to sum up the Spider's wisdom.
THE TELEGRAPH-WIRE.
Of the six Garden Spiders that form the object of my observations, two only, the Banded and the Silky Epeira, remain constantly in their webs, even under the blinding rays of a fierce sun.