6 BEOORDS OF THE AUSTRALIAN MTJSEUM. 



As far as known, no males construct nests, this branch of 

 industry being apparently peculiar to females. During the periods 

 of mating, both sexes may at times be taken in one nest or burrow; 

 but when living apart, the males usually inhabit small cavities or 

 the fissures of rocks. 



Sub-family Actinopodin^. 



This sub-family is represented in Australia by the endemic 

 genus, Er-iodcn, Walck., of which about a dozen species have been 

 described by various authors. These Spiders are very character- 

 istic, and in some instances, the males at least, are brightly 

 coloured. 



So far as I know, no observations of the nesting-habits of the 

 AustraHan species have been recorded. The nest of the South 

 American genus, Aciinoptis, Perty, is a deep, simple, cylindrical 

 tube, perfectly smooth, and lined throughout with silk ; the trap- 

 door is round, and attached to one side with a hinge. 



Sub- family MiGlNiE. 



In his list of the Araneidse collected by the Horn Scientific 

 Expedition to Central Australia, Mr. H. R. Hogg, M. A., recorded'^ 

 what he believed to be Migas ^Jf^radoxiis, L. Koch. The speci- 

 men, collected at Palm Creek, was mutilated, "consisting of 

 a cephalothorax and three pairs of legs." As Mr. Hogg himself 

 does not appear to be altogether certain as to its identity, and as, 

 also, it is a long way from Auckland, New Zealand, to Palm 

 Creek, Central Australia (and there is no other record of its 

 having been found in Australia), we must, until further material 

 is collected, exercise some little reservation in respect to its 

 identity. Mr. Hogg is a very careful and conscientious worker, 

 and his views are, at any rate, entitled to respect. 



The Miginfe are a remarkable group of Spiders ; those of the 

 genus Moggridyea construct their nests upon the trunks of trees, 

 as already described. Migas paradoxus, according to the Rev. 

 O. P. Cambridge,'' makes a nest about an inch and a half in 

 length, covered with particles of soil and decayed vegetable 

 matter, and protected at the entrance by a thin wafer lid, attached 

 by a weak silken hinge. It is found attached to the roots of fern, 

 enabling the architect to obtain a suitable position without the 

 necessity of excavating. None of the species have the extremities 

 of their falces armed with teeth, these organs having been modified 

 to suit them to their arboreal habits. 



2 Eeport Horn Expl. Exp., ii., 1896, Zoology, p. 334. 



3 Proc. Zool. Soc, 1890. p. 624, pi. liii., fig. 3. 



