254 Transactions. 



toward the light. On the 19th March the spiders were, for the most 

 part, about 6 in. farther from the nest than on the 17th, but still a few 

 stragglers remained in the jar. On the 23rd, seven days after first leaving 

 the nest, all had left the jar, and not a single spider was in sight. All their 

 movements had taken place at night : during the day they had maintained 

 the same positions in the web ; and yet they all moved toward the light of 

 the open doorway. 



Summary of Life-history of Araneus brouni. — 2nd February, nest built 

 and eggs laid ; 1st March, young batched, mother died ; 16th March, young 

 left nest ; 17tb, some still in jar near nest ; 18th, moving farther from nest ; 

 19th some not yet left jar ; 23rd, not a spider in sight. 



Araneus pustulosus Walck. 



This is throughout the country one of the commonest Epeirids, 

 exhibiting a truly surprising variation in colouring and size, but always 

 recognized by, among other characters, the black ventral quadrangular 

 area on the abdomen, with the corners marked in white, and by the group 

 of five posterior prominences. 



A captive female built, as usual, in one night a nest in the form of a 

 hemispheric dome of soft, dark greyish-green silk, covering a ball of pink 

 eggs, and itself confined by a transparent veil composed of loose but strong 

 strands of fluffy reddish silk, serving to fasten the whole nest to a support. 

 The outer veil is too thin to affect the general grey-green hue. In this case 

 the flat base of the dome, was attached to the lid of the jar. The spider had 

 shrunk in size, but was as active and fed as well as before. In about 

 seventeen days after laying, the eggs hatched ; but two days before, to my 

 intense surprise, the old spider built a second nest upon the first. The 

 young of the first nest dispersed in the usual manner, and the second batch 

 of eggs hatched in about twenty days. This, however, was not to be the 

 end, for nine days after these had hatched the indefatigable spider con- 

 structed a third nest, joined to the other two, and containing the usual 

 ball of pink eggs. I think this is an unusual procedure — the making of 

 three separate nests containing fertile eggs, within a few weeks of one 

 another, the female being enclosed the whole time, without any possibility 

 of communication with a male ; but there is nothing to show that it may 

 not be a normal occurrence, since nests built in contiguity or even one on 

 another are by no means rare. 



Araneus orientalis Urquhart. 



With regard to this very beautiful species, de Dalmas maintains, probably 

 correctly, that the male described under this name by Urquhart is really 

 that of Araneus brouni ; but I wish to point out that the female of 

 A. orientalis is indubitably a distinct species, however much the males may 

 have been confused. This conclusion is based on the following bionomic 

 and morphological characters : — 



The nest, built in captivity in a single night, is almost exactly like that 

 of A. pustulosus, but is slightly larger and rather more than a hemisphere. 

 Its silk is dark grey-green in colour, quite different from the flaming orange 

 fabric of A. brouni. The flat base is built on a foundation of strong white 

 silk. The female spider which constructed this nest agreed in every detail 

 with the description of A. orientalis (female) of Urquhart. In addition, 

 after nest-building she regained her appetite and recovered completely, 



