142 F. 51. CAMPBELL — OlST THE AEACHNIDiE. 



that any one not specially interested in the Araneidea will under- 

 take such dirty work, but some of the other means I have mentioned 

 of obtaining them can bo adopted without the slightest incon- 

 venience, even by ladies. Occasions sometimes offer of easily 

 capturing rare spiders as they are running over paths or basking in 

 the sun, and the new species to which I have already referred was 

 first noticed by me as it was crossing my study table. 



Experience only can tell the collector the spiders he may pass 

 over. It is, though, always better to catch many that are common 

 than to lose one valuable specimen. Maturity is in very many cases 

 necessary for identification of species, and is therefore an important 

 consideration. If a few spiders are disturbed, the adults, if they 

 are not "shamming death," run' away the quickest, and these 

 ought to be first secured. The mature males are easily discernible 

 through the mouth-organs (maxillary palpi) terminating in two 

 swellings, which, whether folded on the fangs or stretched out in 

 front of the spider, are conspicuous. As a rule, small spiders are 

 more worth catching than large ones, which readily attract atten- 

 tion. Diminutiveness is one of the causes of rarity of capture, 

 and a fox would be valued as a scarce zoological curiosity if it 

 were only one twenty-fifth of an inch in length, which is the 

 measurement of many full-grown spiders. Large species should, 

 however, not be neglected, as some are rare and others very localised. 

 I have, for instance, not yet found in this coimty a single Atypm. 

 Of this genus there are three species in Great Britain. The adult 

 males are sometimes met with above ground, but the females dig a 

 cylindrical hole about ten inches deep, and half an inch in diameter, 

 in banks covered with vegetation. This is lined with a silken tube, 

 which is carried two inches above the surface, and is invariably 

 found closed. The nest is easily recognised, when the heather, 

 grass, etc., are removed, and if carefully dug out the occupant will 

 'be found motionless at the bottom of the tube. I should much 

 like to receive specimens of this spider either dead or alive. 



Finally, let me request any one who is kind enough to send me 

 spiders, to label the bottle which contains them with the name of 

 the district in which they are caught. 



