168 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
published in the ‘ Field’ newspaper of the 28th August, they 
were stated to “consist of a silken tube, scarcely more than 
an inch in length, rugged on the outside in such parts as may 
be exposed, and formed in the folds and interstices of the 
rough bark (‘Annals and Magazine,’ l.c., pl. x., fig. A); the 
outer side of the lid, like that of the exposed parts of the 
tube, exactly resembling the surrounding surface of the 
bark.” One of these tubes was “constructed in the channelled 
groove of a piece of wood which had apparently formed part 
of some building” (/. ¢., fig. B). Other nests, somewhat 
similar to those referred to by Mr. Pickard Cambridge, were 
exhibited by M. Lucas, at a meeting of the French Entomo- 
logical Society (November 10th); the silken tubes—carefully 
concealed by, and interwoven with, particles of bark— 
constituting a longitudinal distension above the surface, and 
ceding to pressure. No reference, however, has been made 
in any of these descriptions to tubes entirely hidden within 
the solid bark, having only the lid exposed. From the 
occupants of these novel abodes being destitute of the spines 
with which the anterior extremity of the falces is crested in 
allied races, assisting them to burrow in the earth, Mr. 
Pickard Cambridge considers that these spiders, “not being 
furnished with the necessary implements,” fix “upon a 
position where excavation is needless.” But in the other 
instances referred to, where the tunnel is equally short, 
scarcely penetrating beyond an inch, and not corresponding, 
therefore, with that of any wood-boring larva of similar 
dimensions, the fortuitous discovery of such a retreat would 
seem open to question; the fangs being possibly more 
available than the spines on the falces for operating upon the 
fibrous tissues, and an economy of labour being effected by 
utilising any convenient receptacle, as frequently witnessed 
among other excavators. Some doubts have been entertained 
whether the access to these domiciles is from above or from 
below. Mr. Pickard Cambridge now inclines to the opinion 
that the lid is placed at the upper extremity of the tube as 
usual, although evidence is wanting upon this point. An 
instructive account of the habits of this and other allied 
species, comprising also the preliminary details published in 
the ‘ Field, has been given in ‘ Newman’s Entomologist’ fo1 
November last by the talented Editor of that periodical. 
