216 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1888. 



tions that the occupant had assisted in accommodating her spinning 

 work to her usurped quarters by widening and deepening the hole. 

 At all events, the snare when seen in such sites presents a very 

 striking appearance of having been a work of design, both in the 

 burrow and in the inter-spun tube, precisely as in the case of the 

 Tunnelweavers. Agalena has one remarkable physical character- 

 istic in common with Atypus and other Theraphosids, namely, the 

 long jointed spinnerets which are used so actively in spinning her 

 characteristic tube. 



When we come to the two remaining tribes, the Lycosids and 

 Tunnelweavers, (Territelarise) we see this habit possessing special 

 developments, and here also we see it associated with the burrowing 

 habit which is such a marked characteristic of many of the higher 

 .animals and even of man himself. 



The nest of Cyrtauchenius elongatus as described by M. Eugene 

 Simon closely resembles that of Agalena ncevia in the character of the 

 tube alone ; but this tube is enclosed within a deep cylindrical bur- 

 row, and is prolonged upward for about three inches above the sur- 

 face of the ground, and enlarged into a funnel-shape, so that it be- 

 comes from tM'o to three inches across at the orifice. This aerial 

 portion is snow white, and at once attracts the eye even from a con- 

 siderable distance ; the nests, rising up amid sparse grass which 

 serves to support but not conceal them, present the appearance of 

 scattered white fungi. Cyrtauchenius belongs to the Territelarire, 

 and appears to be nearly related to Atypus and Nemesia. Mr. 

 Moggridge classifies its nest among those of the trap-door spiders, 

 characterizing it as the funnel-shaped nest.^ 



The nest of Cyrtauchenius even more closely resembles that of 

 certain Lycosids found in the United States ; 'for example, iycosa 

 tigrina^ is quite abundant in the Atlantic States of America. It con- 

 structs a nest wdiich answers closely to Simon's description of Cry- 

 tauchenius, the only exception being that the portion of the nest 

 above ground quite invariably forms an oblique angle wath the tun- 

 nel within the ground, and the burrow is not lined with spinning 

 work below the mouth. The aerial portion of this spider's nest is 

 sometimes formed into a beautiful vestibule above the mouth of the 

 burrow, and as the winter season advances is occasionally shielded 



1 Harvesting Ants and Trap-Door Spiders, Supplement p. 190. Mr. Mogg- 

 ridge gives a diagramatic figure of this Spider's nest from the description of M. 

 Simon. See pi. 13, p. 183. 



^ Tarentula tigrina McCook. Proceed. Am. Entom. Soc. 1879, p. xi. 



