Superfamily Avicularioidea 



tree; but occasionally two or three tubes are built side by side 

 on the same tree. The young spiders are more gregarious. I 

 have seen as many as seven small tubes side by side near a large 

 tube. In selecting a place to build, these spiders show no pref- 

 erence for either the shady or sunny side of the tree. 



The male is unknown to me. It was described by Hentz from 

 a solitary individual found on newly turned soil, at Northampton, 

 Mass. It is probable that, in the adult state at least, the males 

 lead a wandering life. 



In the case of a French species of Atypus, A. piceus, that 

 part of the purse-web which is above ground rests horizontally 

 on the surface of the soil (Fig. 218, A). This nest forms an 

 interesting intermediate type between a simple silk-lined tunnel 

 with no external prolongation, such as is made by many spiders, 

 and the stretched and vibrating tube of our Atypus abbotii. 



The Lost Atypus, Atypus bicolor (A. bi'co-lor). — This is a 

 black species with red legs; both the cephalothorax and the 

 abdomen are entirely black. It was described by Lucas in 1836, 

 with the statement that the specimen described belonged to the 

 Museum of Natural History of Paris, and that it came from North 

 America. The species was unknown in this country until 

 recently, when a single male was taken on Plummer's Island near 

 Washington, D. C. The tarsus of this individual is figured 

 above (Fig. 227). The specimen is in the collection of Mr 

 Banks, who loaned it to me for study. 



256 



