818 THE REV. O. PICKARD-CAMBRIDGE ON [NoY. 26, 



foregoing, seven appear to me to be new to science; while of the 

 remaining four, three seem to be very little known. 



A point of considerable interest with respect to some of the 

 above Spiders is that five of them were imported to England in 

 packages of bananas (from the Canary Islands). Importations of 

 this kind are becoming more and more frequent, and it is easy to 

 see how perfect a material bananas furnish as a vehicle for soft- 

 bodied creatures like Spiders. 



Fam. Theraphosid^. 

 Subfam. Ctenizin.^, 

 Genus Pachylomerus Ausserer. 

 Pachylomerus ^dificatorius Westwood. (Plate L. figs. 1-6.) 



Pachylomerus cedificatorius Westwood, Trans. Ent. Soc. vol. iii. 

 pp. 7-15, pi. X. (1840) ; E. Simon, Actes de la Soc. Linn, de 

 Bordeaux, xlv. (1888). 



Through the kindness of Mr. George Nicholson (late of the 

 Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew) I have received fi'om his nephew, 

 Lieut. J. B. Nicholson, H.M.S. ' Ari'ogant,' female examples of this 

 Spider and its tubular nest from Lagos, Portugal. From a com- 

 parison with Professor Westwood's description and a recollection 

 of the type specimen (a dry one in the Oxford University Museum) 

 1 had doubts about the specific identity of the Lagos examples 

 with that specimen. I have, however, since obtained Mons. Simon's 

 kind examination and opinion upon the Lagos Spiders, and he 

 feels no doubt whatever but that they are identical with P. ceclifi- 

 catorius Westw. Prof. Westwood's type came from Barbary ; 

 it appears to be abundant in West Algeria ; and "M. Simon tells 

 me it has occurred at Carthagena, in Spain. 



From what Lieut. Nicholson says it would appear to be not at all 

 rare at Lagos. M. Simon believes that a species described from 

 Spain by the late Dr. Thorell {Um/midea picea Thor.) is the male 

 of this species. The difiiculty of deciding on the relationship of 

 isolated examples of the sexes in this group is well known. 

 Naturalists and collectors who may have the chance of being 

 able to work out this point in respect to the present species at 

 Lagos have an opportunity to deserve well of their Arachnological 

 brethren. 



I have given (PI. L, figs. 1-6) some details of the Lagos 

 examples, which I conclude to be hsrdly adult. There is a point 

 of much interest in respect to the nests sent to me by Lieut. 

 Nicholson ; these tubular nests not only have a hinged lid at the 

 upper end (as described and figured by Westwood), but another, 

 of a thinner texture and distinctly hinged, at the lower end also. 

 The use and purpose of this arrangement, which is hitherto with- 

 out parallel, I believe, in the known history of any described 

 Trapdoor Spider, were not easy to be conceived, especially as I 



