AN UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER 



Most of the trap-door spiders are nocturnal in their 

 habits ; they spend the day shut up closely indoors and go 

 out hunting at night time, or lie in wait at the mouth of the 

 nest, with the lid slightly raised, peering out of the chink 

 in readiness to pounce upon their prey. The majority seem 

 to close the door after them when leaving home, but the 

 Cteniza arlana of the island of Tinos, in the Greek Archi- 

 pelago, emerge about nine o'clock, and fasten their doors 

 open by a few threads attached to any convenient grass stems 

 or little stones. They then spread a long, low snare close to 

 the ground, and return to their holes to await the cap- 

 ture of a beetle or some other night-wandering insect, which 

 is promptly dragged to the den and eaten ; the fragments of 

 the feast are then carefully removed and deposited at a dis- 

 tance of several feet from the nest. 



There are, however, a few trap-door spiders that venture 

 abroad during the day. Such spiders are found, for instance, 

 in both California and New South Wales, and they leave 

 their doors open while they are away. Others come out at 

 dusk, and it was one of these which first gave me an oppor- 

 tunity of becoming personally acquainted with a trap-door 

 spider an event which, when unexpected, is apt to give 

 rise to a momentary feeling of surprise and bewilderment. 1 

 It was towards the close of a warm day in Morocco, and 

 I was resting awhile by the side of a small orange grove on 

 a low bank topped with aloes, enjoying the indescribable 

 fragrance of the orange blossom, but conscious all the same 

 of the necessity for keeping a pretty sharp look-out for ants 

 and other creatures calculated to interfere with one's 

 appreciation of the tranquillity of the scene. Close beside 

 me was something that looked like a bit of leathery fungus 

 or a small fragment of bark ; I should not have noticed it at 



1 J. L. 

 27 



