Fig. 216. ENTRANCE TO TUNNEL 



OK TRAP-DOOR SPIDER, THE 



CORK TYPE 



Superfamily Avicularioidea 



thick stopple, with its edges accurately bevelled to fit the 

 bevelled opening of the tunnel, the cork type (Fig. 216); and 

 third, there may be either one or two doors to the nest, the 

 single door type and the double 

 door type. The second door, when 

 there are two, is some distance 

 below the first door. 



In all cases the door is pro- 

 vided on one side with a hinge 

 which is merely a continuation of 

 the wall of the tube into the layer 

 of silk that forms the foundation 

 of the door. 



The inner surface of the door 

 presents the same appearance as 

 the silken lining of the tube, being 

 a firm layer of silk; but the outer surface of the door is cov- 

 ered with earth and made to simulate in a very perfect manner 

 the surface of the surrounding soil, so that, when the door is 

 closed, very careful observation is necessary to detect the 

 presence of the nest. In those cases in which the nest is built in 



soil covered with moss, 

 moss is planted by the 

 spider upon the door of 

 the nest. Many nests of 

 this kind are figured by 

 Moggridge ('73-74); and 

 I have some before me as 

 1 write, which were taken 

 in California (Fig. 217); 

 these are old specimens, 

 and the moss is dry and 

 withered so that it is com- 

 paratively inconspicuous. 

 The wafer door and 

 the cork door represent 

 two quite distinct types. In the wafer type the door consists 

 of a single layer of silk covered with soil: the edge of the door, 

 which is thin, merely overlaps the edge of the tunnel; and there 

 are no holes in the lining of the door for the reception of claws 



^ 



*?3»S -■■-.:■ ■ - 



Fig. 217. ENTRANCE COVERED WITH MOSS 



233 



