6o8 TRAP-DOOR SPIDERS. 



lids were sufficiently completed to cover the mouths of the 

 tubes, but the spiders were still working at them, heads down- 

 wards, and spinnerets busy on their under sides. On watching 

 one which was not so far advanced with lid-making, it was 

 found that every now and then she emerged to collect small 

 (juantities of earth, with which she disappeared into the tube, 

 to reappear presently and fix t^ie earth to the outer margin of 

 the lid with fangs and claws. 



Judging by the interval that elapsed between her entering 

 the tube and reappearing, one might suppose the spider had to 

 mix the soil with some substance to give it the consistency 

 necessary for building. After fixing, as already stated, she 

 again turned her spinnerets to the new ])art. and strengthened 

 it by several layers of web. 



By II o'clock a third spider had the opening covered by a 

 full-sized lid, and by daylight all lids but one were completed. 

 The last s[)ider remained inactive for several days before it set 

 to work on its lid. 



Much had to be done towards thickening the lids and in 

 making the crenated, over-lapping margin, Init this was at length 

 accomplished by all. 



Males.- — One male was found in a nest with very small, 

 almost round, lid in March. 



Incubation Period. — Eggs have been found in December, 

 January, and February. .\t this time the lids are always firmly 

 fastened down with web. 



Moggridgi:a Ru picola HcK'ili. 

 (Rcc. Albany Mits. 2, 462.) 



The nests of M. riipicola are always formed in rock crevices, 

 or attached to the underside of overhanging ledges. In the 

 former case the lid has its hinge above the opening; in the latter 

 it is below. The position of most of the nests suggests that the 

 spiders choose narrow crevices, so that the top and bottom may 

 be attached to rock. These nests are always strengthened with 

 earth, and are never found except in a more or less horizontal 

 position. They are always very short — from an inch to an inch 

 and a half being usual in the case of those with adult occupants 

 — and widen considerably towards the interior. 



The lids are very thin, fragile, and wafer-like, and are 

 nearly circular. When closed they are very difficult to detect, 

 as they fit very closely into the mouths of the nests. 



When disturbed the spider holds on firmlv with fanss and 

 claws, which it inserts in openings in the centre of the lid. 



Fccdinci Tinic.--1 cannot say when this species usually feeds, 

 but on one occasion, when looking for nests under a ledge, I was 

 fortunate enough to see a spider secure its i)rey. A small flv 

 was walking past a nest when, like a flash, the lid flew open, 

 the fly was caught, and the spider vanished with its victim. 



