30 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



that she was in conflict with a power beyond that which controls ordinary 

 misfortunes, and which therefore it was quite useless to further oppose? 



Anotlier experiment with interesting results was the fastening of the 

 trapdoor with a pin or peg into the adjacent soil, so as to prevent exit 



therefrom. Invariably when this was done in the evening, a little 

 Branch- ^j^^ branch was excavated over night, with an opening at the 

 ing Nests. . , . . , ,,,.,,, i i i 



nearest pouit to the origniai mouth of the tube, and a new door 



hung upon it. It is possible that some of the various nests, first described 

 by Mr. Moggridge^ as branched nests, may have been due to accidental 

 stoppage of doors. It has been supposed tliat spiders created these branches 

 as a refuge from enemies, or perhaps from aggressions of the elements. 

 Miss Thomson's record would indicate that the branch tube is simply a 

 natural effort of tlie spider to i)rovide an exit from her burrow whenever 

 the ordinary mode of departure has been prevented. The curious thing 

 about it, perhaps, is that the inmate did not attempt to burrow out the 

 obstructed door, instead of taking the roundabout and more laborious course 

 of making for herself a side exit.^ What could have caused this peculi- 

 arity of behavior? Can we account for it by the general suspicious tem- 

 per which characterizes spiders, and many other animals, when brought in 

 contact with a new experience? 



Miss Thomson attributes to Cteniza californica the secretive tendency 

 which naturalists have observed in other Trapdoor spiders. She conceals 



her abode from observation by causing it to mimic the adjacent 

 Site im-g.^^^ rpijp ^^^^ corresi)onds so closely to the character of the 

 icrv 



surrounding surface that it is difficult to discover it. If the bank 



is bare the top of the door is also bare ; if the bank is covered with lichens, 

 the spider cuts a crop of minute lichens and glues them with nice judg- 

 ment to the outside of her door, thus disguising the entrance. 



When one nest is discovered it is comparatively easy to discover two, 

 as they are almost always in pairs, and many times so close that their lids 

 touch when open. The observer does not state whetlier these contiguous 

 burrows are occupied by the different sexes, and it would be interesting to 

 know the facts in regard to this. 



When leaving her burrow Cteniza simply allows the door to drop of 

 its own weight. When returning she scampers off at a smart pace for 

 her dwelling, and apparently lifts up the door with the fangs of her 

 mandibles, and as she backs down the burrow allows the trap to fall be- 

 hind her. 



After the hatching of the eggs from seventy-five to a hundred black- 

 and-green spiderlings will be found occujiying the maternal nest. When 

 these are a few weeks old they leave the native burrow, and begin to exca- 

 vate in sunny places minute tubes of their own. Often a dozen such 



^ Harvesting Ants and Trapdoor Spiders. 



