196 Falconer : The Spiders of Yorkshire. 



on the insect and spider life. V.C. 63, 64 — Certain spiders find 

 a congenial home only on high mountains. Of these Diplo- 

 cephalus castaneipes Sim., and Walckenaera capito Westr. have 

 been taken on the Craven hills, but the latter are apparently 

 not lofty enough to furnish any more of the rare Alpine forms, 

 which have occurred in more elevated and rugged regions of 

 more ancient formations in Scotland, Cumberland and Wales. 

 In most of the hillier districts in the west of the county also, 

 woods are generally speaking few in number, small in extent, 

 and with little undergrowth, stone walls take the place of 

 hedges, and there is a scantiness in the general vegetation as 

 compared with more favoured localities at a lower elevation. 

 The vegetal poverty is reflected in the spider population, many 

 of the larger and more conspicuous species, which frequent 

 ranker growths, being absent, especially in the families Thom- 

 isidae, Epeiridas, Lycosidae and Attidge. On the other hand, 

 the constantly moist condition of much of the ground, especially 

 in the millstone grit areas, is particularly adapted to the welfare 

 of very many others, while the numerous stones and the 

 abundant heather, grass and moss shelter a large number of the 

 smaller kinds, a considerable proportion of which are still 

 looked upon as rare in Britain. The species which have not 

 yet been taken in the county outside V.C. 63 are Diplocephalus 

 pYotuherans Camb., Tigellinus jurcillatus Menge, Gongylidielhim 

 latehricola Camb., Maro minntus Camb., M. humicola Falcr., 

 M. jalconerii Jacks., Eboria caliginosa Falcr., Thyreosthenius 

 hiovatus Camb., Walckenaera obtusa BL, Scotina celans Bl., 

 Micariosoma festivum C. L. Koch, Euophrys erraticus Walck. 



In 1905 Dr. G. H. Oliver forwarded a number of spiders 

 from the neighbourhood of Bradford to the Rev. O. Pickard 

 Cambridge for identification. These I am given to understand 

 were not more definitely localised, and the names of 47 species 

 he had collected, together with 10 taken by Mr. C. Mosley and 

 my own captures up to date, were added to those recorded in 

 the ' Spiders of Great Britain and Ireland,' and published in 

 the Victoria County History of Yorkshire, a total of 221 species, 

 but of these Drassus cttpretis Bl., Leptyphantes inconspicua 

 Camb., Tmeticus neglectus Camb., serratus and adeptus Camb., 

 Microneta territa and passiva Camb., and Susarion neglechtm 

 Camb., must be expunged as they were already on the list 

 under other names. 



V.C. 61. In the autumn of 1905 Mr. T. Stainforth and a 

 few other Hull naturahsts with the occasional assistance of 

 outside collectors, began the investigation of the East Riding, 

 which has proved to be very rich in rare spiders. In particular, 

 (i) the sand dune area in the S.E. corner ; (2) the Humber ; 

 and (3) the uncultivated areas in Derwentland (Riccall, Skip- 

 with and AUerthorpe Commons, Houghton Woods and moors, 



'Naturalist 



