TRAPDOOR SPIDERS. lOS 



nearly agrees in the thoracic pattern with the spider above de- 

 scribed. Ausserer, in his elaborate paper on the Mygalides, lately 

 published {Beitrage &c. vide supra), appears to have overlooked 

 M. meiidionalis (Costa) altogetlier; while Canestrini and Pavesi 

 (Catal. degli Araneidi itnlinni in Atti Soc. Ital. Sc. Nat. xi. (1869), 

 p. 25, include it under the synonyms of M. fodiens Walck., from 

 which it is undoul)tedly distinct, as may be seen at once, even if it 

 were only by the difference in the form and structure of the lid 

 with which the external orifice of the tubular nest is closed. 



In the case of tlie upper door of these branched 

 nests, as there is but a very thin coating of earth on 

 their upper surface, it is rare to iind any of the larger 

 mosses or lichens growing upon them ; but, as if to 

 compensate for this deficiency, a variety of foreign 

 materials are employed which are scarcely ever found 

 in cork doors, such as dead leaves, bits of stick, roots, 

 straw of grasses, &c., and I have even seen freshly- 

 cut green leaves, apparently gathered for the purpose, 

 spun into a door which had recently been constructed. 



But here again there is the widest possible difference 

 between nest and nest in the degree of perfection in 

 their concealment ; and, although as a rule the surface 

 of the upper door harmonizes well with the general 

 appearance of its surroundings, there are some indi- 

 vidual nests in which it readily catches the eye and 

 even attracts attention. 



Thus, I have seen nests in mossy banks where the 

 doors, being made of nothing but earth and silk, 

 showed distinctly as brown patches against the green ; 

 and those doors which are covered with earth only, 

 even when they are surrounded by earth, are often 

 easily detected, because when they dry up, as they 

 quickly do, they become much paler in colour than 

 the earth of the bank, which retains its moisture. 



