HABITATIONS OF INSECTS. 4-69 



with such precision, that it seems to make but one surface 

 with it. Such is the astonishing structure of this little ani- 

 mal's abode; nor is its defence of its subterraneous cavern 

 Jess surprising. If an observer adroitly insinuates the 

 point of a pin under the edge of the door, and elevates 

 it a little, he immediately perceives a very strong resist- 

 ance. What is its cause ? The spider, warned by the 

 vibrations of the threads which extend from the door to 

 the bottom of her gallery, runs with all speed to the 

 door, fastens its legs to it on one side, and on the other 

 to the walls, and, turning upon its back, pulls with all its 

 might. Thus the door is alternately shut or opened, as 

 the exertions of the observer or of the spider prevail. 

 It is easy to guess which will in the end conquer ; and 

 the spider, when it finds all resistance ineffectual, betakes 

 itself to flight, and retreats. If, to make a further experi- 

 ment, the observer fastens down the door so that it can- 

 not be forced open, the next morning he will find a new 

 entrance, with a new door formed at a small distance ; 

 or, if he take the door entirely away, another will be 

 constructed in less than twelve hours. 



The habitation thus singularly formed and defended 

 is not at all used as a snare, but merely as a safe abode 

 for the spider, which hunts its prey at night only; and, 

 when caught, devours it in security at the bottom of its 

 den, which is generally strewed with the remains of co- 

 leopterous insects 11 . From some curious observations 

 of M. Dorthes on this species in the second volume of 

 the Linnean Transactions, it appears that both the male 



a Sauvages Hist, de FAcad. des Sc. de Paris, 1758, p. 26. Perhaps 

 this, as well as M ccemcniaria, belongs to Latreille's genus Ctcniza. 

 Families Nature-lies du Regnc minimal. 313. 



