168 [July. 



work and spun round the nest an extensive snare of white silk 

 fastening it to the twigs of the hranch, and to the walls, roof and 

 floor of the case. 



Four years ago* Mr. G. A. K. Marshall drew attention to the 

 discovery of the existence of a species of Micro-Leindoptera as a 

 messmate in the nest of a Stegodi/phus in Mashonaland. He said : — 

 " The larvae in their frass-covered cases reside among the debris of 

 dead insects, on which I presume they feed. In one nest six empty 

 pupa-cases were found, from which the moths had evidently emerged. 

 How they managed to escape from the heart of the nest seems little 

 short of a marvel." 



Three species of Stegodyphus are known to iuhahit Africa, south 

 of the Zambesi, namely, S. africanus^ Blackw., 8. gregarius, O.P. Cambr., 

 and S. dumicola, Poc. Of these the first mentioned is a northern 

 type which extends into Mashonaland, but appears to be rare. 

 Mr. Marshall has seut me a few specimens only. The second is 

 known from Natal. A colony of it was sent some years ago by Col. 

 Bowker to Lord Walsiugham, and was subsequently exhibited in the 

 Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, The third is by far the commonest 

 and apparently the most widely distributed, ranging from Mashona- 

 land to the seaboard of Cape Colony. This, 1 believe, is the species 

 in whose nest Mr. Marshall discovered the lepidopterous larva? ; and 

 to this species, 1 believe, belongs the nest that was sent to me by Capt. 

 Barrett-Hamilton, although the immaturity of the spiders forbids 

 for the present a decided verdict on this point. 



This enumeration of the species of South African gregarious 

 spiders is given to draw the attention of collectors, who may be 

 willing to extend our knowledge of this subject, to the advisability 

 of securing both spiders and moths out of a web, for it is possible 

 that several species of moths may be brought to light by that means. 



There are also at least three gregarious species of Stegodyphus 

 found in Western India and Ceylon. It would be interesting to know 

 if they too harbour moths in their communities. 



The first sign of the presence of living insects in the spider 

 community in my keeping was the appearance of small larva? crawling 

 about the snare. Like the spiders, they were attracted from the nest 

 by the warmth of the sun and retreated again into the darkness and 

 shelter when the glass-case was replaced in the shade. They also 

 emerged to feed upon the carcases of the flies or other insects which, 



* The Zoologist (4) II, p. 422, 1898. 



