THE TRAP-DOOR SPIDER. 



655 



enormous size, and when removed from the creature and set in gold, they are used as tooth- 

 picks, being thought to possess some occult virtue, which drives away the toothache. 



ON the left hand of the accompanying illustration may be seen two specimens of a 

 British example of this family. This creature is shown rather magnified, in order to 

 exhibit its peculiar structure. The reader will not fail to notice the manner in which 

 the eyes are mounted on a kind of pedestal or watch-tower, so as to allow the creature 

 to see objects in its front, which would otherwise be hidden by the enormous and 

 elevated mandibles. 



This spider is rare, but has been found in several places. It frequents damp situa- 

 tions, and makes a rather curiously shaped burrow, nearly horizontal at its commence- 

 ment, but afterwards sloping downwards. The tunnel is lined with a kind of web of 

 white silk, very strongly compacted, which serves to prevent the earth from falling into 



SULZER'S \TYPUS.-'Atypus Sulzeri. 



TRAP-DOOR SPlDER.-Cteaiza aidultas. 



the burrow. Part of the tube projects outside the entrance, and acts as a protection. 

 The female places her eggs in a little cocoon also composed of white silk, and keeps 

 them at the bottom of the burrow until the young are hatched. 



The length of this creature is nearly half an inch, and its color is reddish brown, be- 

 coming paler and more ruddy on the limbs. The male is smaller and darker than his 

 mate. 



Ax the right hand of the same illustration are seen two examples of the curious TRAP- 

 DOOR SPIDER of Jamaica, erroneously called the Tarantula. 



Like the preceding species, this spider digs a burrow in the earth and lines it with a 

 silken web, but instead of merely protecting the entrance by a portion of the silken tube, 

 it proves itself a more complete architect by making a trap-door with a hinge that permits 

 it to be open and closed with admirable accuracy, The door is beautifully circular, and 

 is made of alternate layers of earth and web, and is hinged to the lining of the tube by a 

 band of the same silken secretion. It exactly fits the entrance of the burrow,' and when 

 closed, so precisely corresponds with the surrounding earth that it can hardly be dis- 



