212 Annals Entomological Society of America [Vol. I, 



University could be readily identified, leaving only the life habits 

 of the forms needing investigation. It was soon found, however, 

 that the species collected were far from being easily determined, 

 and developments soon showed that a problem in systematic 

 work was really at hand. Thus it was deemed advisable to press 

 first the solution of the taxonomic questions, even if the biological 

 phases of the problem had to be neglected. Efforts were there- 

 fore made to secure good series of all the species obtainable, and 

 in some cases very satisfactory results were obtained. 



The territory covered is not extensive, not nearly as much so 

 as desirable, but many days have been spent in careful field work 

 in the immediate vicinity of Stanford University. The mountains 

 west of Stanford have been visited to the extent of the Woodside- 

 Kings Mt. Road, and the ravine west of, and below. King's 

 House, the base of the Woodside-La Honda Road, the Goat- 

 Ranch Canon and the New Grade Road, the Page-Mill Road, and 

 the Los Gatos Canon, from Wrights down. In the Mt. Hamilton 

 Range, the lower portion of the Alum Rock Canon was visited, 

 and material was secured at various points along the Mt. Hamilton 

 Stage-road from San Jose. A special trip was made to Santa 

 Rosa, Sonoma County, as this was then supposed to be the type 

 locality of Simon's Aptostichus clathratus. Material was secured 

 at the base of the hills due east of Petaluma, at White Sulphur 

 Springs, south-east of Santa Rosa, and along the Guerneville- 

 Forestville Road, near the Russian River. Finally, the gulches 

 in the pine forest of the Monterey Peninsula, and the Monterey- 

 Sur County-road, yielded valuable returns for the time spent in 

 that vicinity. 



The only way of locating the nests of the spiders is by careful 

 search for the traps or open burrows, in likely places, as learned 

 by experience. Frequently, after a considerable rain, the burrow 

 is deepened and pellets of soil, held together by silken thread, 

 are carried out and piled up near the burrow, such piles being 

 often much more noticeable than the trapdoors, and even more 

 so than the uncovered openings. In moss-covered banks, a very 

 popular resort, the trapdoors are commonly almost beyond dis- 

 covery by human ken, but frequently a practiced eye may detect 

 a flattened space in a mass of moss which may be lifted up and 

 seen to be a trapdoor. Sometimes the free edge of the door will be 

 quite noticeable to one accustomed to detecting them. In 

 general, they are quite indiscernible to the casual observer, 



