F. M. CAMPBELL — OBSEKVATIONS ON SPIDERS. 45 



persistent in all seasons, is fovintl in the p;enns Afi/pm, of \Yliich we 

 liave two recognized si)eeies, piceus and aj/inis *), Avliich are the 

 so-called " English trap-door spiders." This term is, however, 

 incorrect, for although they dig a hole in the ground, Avhich, in the 

 case of adult females, measures ten inches in length and tive-cighths 

 of an inch in width, there is no attempt to make a door such as is 

 seen in the true trap-door spiders' nests of the Continent, which are 

 to be found readih' about Bordeaux and the lliviera.f Att/pus 

 piceus and affiuis spin a much stronger lining to their nest, and 

 carry it about two inches beyond the ground, upon which the 

 prolongation rests. When the spiders are at home, the tul)es are 

 invariably closed and fully extended ; the end being brought to a 

 point, and so well woven, that even on close examination there is 

 no trace of a seam. They feed by night. 



One of the most interesting of our iudigenous spiders on account 

 of its habitat is Argijroneta aquatica, which is born and lives in 

 pools and ditches. It is easily kept in confinement for some time, 

 and is procurable from the Cambridgeshire fens, where it is 

 common, but it is not to be confounded with some species which 

 hunt for their prey on the water, nor with those which only 

 occasionally take a plunge {Zi/cosa piratica and Dolomedes Jim- 

 hriatus). It constructs a dome-shaped cell in the water in the 

 following manner. Entangling a bubble of air in its spinnerets, it 

 descends, and attaches it to a weed, then it rises to the surface, 

 procures another, which it adds to the first, covering both with 

 its thread. This it will I'epeat as many as twentj* times, until the 

 cell is large enough, when it enters from below, having previously 

 taken care to attach lines in communication with different points. 

 Here it lives and hybernatcs, occasionally making a foraging 

 excursion. It is the only English species in which the male is 

 larger than the female. 



Many of the female hunting spiders (Lycosidfe, etc.), rather than 

 desert their cocoon, carry or draw it after them, and defend it 

 to the last ; and Bonnet | relates how a Dolomedes mirah/lis 

 preferred to remain in the hole of an ant-lion to abandoning its 

 eggs. This species, as the hatching-time approaches, weaves a sheet 

 upon blades of grass, and remains with her young for some days, 

 only leaving them to procure food. Spiders which spin snares 

 generally place their cocoons in close proximity, and some, like 

 Tegenaria domestica, are to bo continually found sitting § on the 

 sac which incloses their eggs. 



The strategy of spiders is not confined to the construction of 

 theii' webs. The Epeiridae will at times shake them so violently as 

 to make the outline of their bodies invisible, while the cellar spider 



* Blackwall's synonym for both is Suheri. 



t Mr. Moggridge's book, ' Harvesting Ants and Trap-door Spiders,' goes 

 fully into tbeir habits and the construction of their nests. 



X 'Traite d'Insectologie,' vol. i, p. 547 (4to.). 



§ Such is the position at the present moment of the T. domestica, mentioned 

 already as ha^iag laid one egg. 



