TRAP- DOOR SPIDERS. 233 



these wafer-nests and the dwellings constructed by 

 Lycosa narbonensis, a species belonging to the allied 

 family of Li/cosida, and wliicli closely resembles the 

 true tar ant id a*^ of Southern Ital3^ 



I first made the acquaintance of Lycosa narbonensis 

 near the glass-works west of Cannes, where this 

 spider may not rarely be found living in tubular 

 burrows in sandy clearings among the pine woods 

 along the shore [Pinus pinea, the stone pine). 



I have already {Jnts and Spiders, p. 146), alluded 

 to an account given bv M. Leon Dufour of his obser- 

 vations on the nest and habits of the true tarantula 

 {Lycosa tarentuJa), which he discovered in Spain. 



The nests of L. narbonensis at Cannes resembled 

 those described b}^ M. Dufour, but the cylindrical, 

 subterranean burrows were apparently shorter. It 

 was extremely difficult to trace their course, on ac- 

 count of the loose sand which poured into the tubes 

 and choked them up, and I only su3ceeded in doing 

 so completely in one case, when I stuffed the tube 

 with cotton-wool before proceeding to dig. Here the 

 open tube, which was quite simple, and about 1 inch 

 in diameter, descended vertically for 3^ inches, and 

 was then suddenly bent so as to become horizontal, 

 terminating shortl}^ afterwards in a triangular chamber, 

 the floor of which measured 2 inches across at the 

 widest part, and was strewed with the remains of 

 beetles and other insects. 



The nest was lined throughout with coarse silk, 



* In the United States, and indeed in the New World generally, it seems to 

 be the custom to call all the larger " ground spiders," and especially the trap 

 door spiders, Tarantulas, hut these, in fact, form a distinct group by themselves, 

 belonging to the family Lycosidte. 



