74 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



will enlarge the margins of the sheeted parts thereof, and will also enlarge 

 the tubular tent. The supporting lines above are also continvially strength- 

 ened. These spiders may be seen in these acts from time to time by one 

 who cares to watch their habits. We tlius reach the conclusion that those 

 web making spiders that dwell in permanent homes, to which snares are 

 attached, are in the habit of frequently repairing the same ; while those 

 which make more ephemeral snares, as the Orbweavers, permit them to be 

 quite worn out as a rule, whereupon they proceed to build new webs. 

 There are, however, exceptions to the above, and occasionally Orbweavers 

 will be found patching their webs. The reasons for this difference, of 

 course, are found in the different characters of the webs themselves, as has 

 heretofore been fully explained in Vol. I. of this work, and need not be 

 here further entered upon. 



X. 



Mr. Walter Titus, a youth engaged upon a ranch in the neighborhood 



of Los Angeles, made a number of intelligent observations upon Trapdoor 



spider nests, which are furnished me through the kindness of 



Intelli- ]\Iiss J^^stelle Thompson. ^ This lady is decidedly of the opinion 



,. that the nests of the California Trapdoor spider are quite com- 



cation. . . . ^ ^ ^ . 



monl}^ placed in such positions as to allow of good drainage, 

 that is to say, so that the nests are protected from excessive rains. 



In attempting to lift the lid it was invariably found to be held down, 

 as though by suction from underneath. In one case a spider which was 

 holding down a trapdoor did not let go until the lid was lifted, when 

 she slid into the tube as though going down a M'ell. A full grown spider 

 can force up the door of its house, even when there are three ounces of 

 lead on the top thereof. The manner of entrance to and exit from the 



burrow is well described by Mr. Titus. When the spider wants 

 , -NT t ^^ leave home it lifts the lid by pushing from beneath ; and 



when, on the contrary, it wants to reenter its nest it lifts the 

 lid with its mandible, fastening its hooked fangs thereinto, then places 

 its two front legs down into the hole, as though to stay up the hinged 

 trap, and thereupon darts within. It is evident that before retreating she 

 reverses her position, for it is stated that she backs down the nest, and 

 the lid closes by its own weight. 



The first door that Cteniza makes after she is old enough to set up 

 housekeeping is composed almost wholly of silk. The next one will not 

 contain so great a proportion of silk, and succeeding ones each a less 



' I have given ou page 29 an abstract of some observations on the California Trapdoor 

 spider made by Miss Estelle Thomp.son. Having written for more accurate and fuller 

 details, the following facts came too late to be used in connection with the above, but in time 

 to add to this chapter of Miscellany. 



