life-history of Atijjjus inceus. 403 



the male, and must now leave the female and the most 

 interesting part of their history, viz., that of their food, — 

 what it is, and how they obtain it, — to our next meeting, 

 when I hope to finish the life-history. 



We now come to the problem, which is the most 

 important to the welfare of humanity, whether in times 

 of peace or war, and no doubt at the present time, — the 

 question of the food-supply, — is troubling some of the 

 highest as well as the lowest, and I venture to think that, 

 in some respects, the humble Atypi are the best off. 

 They certainly are a most contented family, always 

 adapting themselves to circumstances. 



Before giving my own observations respecting the 

 food of this spider, I will refer to what has already been 

 recorded. First, I find, in ' The Zoologist,' Mr. Newman 

 gives an account of the first capture of Atypus in England 

 by Mr. Brown, in which is the following : — " On drawing 

 out o)ie of the sacs I observed a icorm at the lower end, 

 partially within the sac and partially outside, and that 

 the spider had evidently been eating a considerable 

 portion of its anterior extremity. It is not unlikely 

 that this kind of food may frequently fall to the lot of 

 the spider."* Mr. Brown adds, "I never saw any Hies 

 or fragments of insects in the nests." 



From this I should imagine the nests were broken, 

 for at the bottom of all tubes I have dug is a trodden 

 floor of earth, upon which, and mixed with bits of roots, 

 I find the debris of all sorts of insects. Mr. Meade, in 

 answer to Mr. Xewmau, says : — " I cannot help thinking 

 it was a fortuitous circumstance, that an earth-worm 

 was found in the retreat of the Atyjjus, though it is quite 

 possible the spider would feed upon the earth-worm 

 when it came in its way. I believe these spiders are 

 erratic in their habits, and none of them bring home 

 prey to their retreats." 



Mons. E. Simon t (of Paris) considers that the food of 

 this spider consists almost entirely of earth-worms. 

 Possibly the French representative may, for there is no 

 accounting for tastes ; and such food is certainly in 



■'■'■ See ' Zoologist,' vol. xiv., 1856, p. 5021, "Notes on Atypus," 

 by E. Newman. 



f Ann. Soc. Ent. de France, 5e ser., tuiu. iii., 1673, p. luy. 



