544 DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME NEW ARANEID.E, 



Their architecture consists of a retreat in the form of a tube with 

 two apertures; a nest in which they (1) moult, and (2) in which 

 they seclude their cocoons, but to which there is no aperture; and 

 finally the cocoon. These spiders are active during the day-time, 

 and capture their prey either by surprise or pursuit. In the art 

 of stalking prey they are exceedingly skilful. In this they are 

 aided by keenness of vision, in which respect, throughout the 

 whole of the Araneidfe, they have no superior. The subject of 

 vision, however, is not within the province of this paper, and 

 and must therefore be held over for a future occasion; but as the 

 question has been raised, it is only fair to say that a number of 

 eminent authors have recorded both observations and experiments 

 proving conclusively that length of vision is possessed by the 

 Attidce to a rare degree. Among these are Cambridge, Simon, 

 McCook, and Dr. and Mrs. Peckham. Of these the last named 

 writers, after enumerating a long series of experiments, conclude 

 with the following observation: — -"We think that our experi- 

 ments on vision prove conclusively that Attidse see their prey 

 (which consists of small insects), when it is motionless, up to a 

 distance of five inches; that they see insects in motion at much 

 greater distances; and that they see each other distinctly up to 

 twelve inches. The observations on blinded spiders and the 

 numerous instances in which spiders were close together and yet 

 out of sight of each other, showed that they were unconscious of 

 each other's presence, render any other explanation of their action 

 unsatisfactory. Light guides them, not smell."* 



Among the Australian Attiche there are many species that do 

 not make a retreat at all, but content themselves with the seclu- 

 sion afforded by objects within the compass of their sphere of 

 activity, such as nooks and crannies in walls and rocks, the spaces 

 under stones, fissures, and such like. On the other hand, there 

 are some species that seem to be guided more by caprice than 



* " The Sense of Sight m Spiders," by George W. and Mrs. Elizabeth 

 G. Peckham. Trans. Wisconsin Acad. Sci., Arts, and Letters, Vol. x., 

 p. 249. 



