48 The Structure and Habits of Spiders. 



time, coming out at night, and some species in 

 the daytime, to catch insects, which they carry 

 into the tube, and eat. The eggs are laid in the 

 tube ; and the young are hatched, and live there 

 till able to go alone, when they go out, and dig 

 little holes of their own. As the spider gets 

 larger, the hole is made wider, and the cover 

 enlarged by adding a layer of earth and silk ; so 

 that an old cover is made up of a number of 

 layers, one over the other, over the original 

 little cover. 



Moggridge once took a Cteniza Califomica out 

 of her nest, and put her on a pot of earth, and 

 the next morning had the good luck to see her 

 at work digging. She loosened the earth with 

 her mandibles, and took it in little lumps with 

 the mandibles and maxillae, and carried it away 

 piece by piece. It took her an hour to dig a 

 hollow as large as half a walnut. He saw the 

 making of the door twice by other species. 

 Once he dug a hole for a spider in some earth, 

 and the next day found her in it, and the top 

 covered by a little web, on which were scattered 

 bits of earth and leaves, which had evidently 

 been put there by the spider. The second 



