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UnqunanT.—On the Protective Resemblances of the Araneidea. 175 
grey and black, and when crouching in the ascil of a bleached branch, it 
takes close observation to detect them, there being, in some instances, not 
only no perceptible difference in the shades of colour, but owing to the 
peculiar mottling and little irregular limbs on the abdomen, the rugose bark 
itself is closely imitated. 
The generality of spiders found amongst burnt manuka, before it 
has become bleached, have the brownish-black colour of their environ- 
ment, which causes them to be almost imperceptible at a very short 
distance. 
On green manuka a greater variety of spiders are to be seen; the 
majority are of various shades of grey or brownish-grey, the legs marked 
with reddish-brown ; green are occasionally met with; brown or greenish- 
brown spiders are not uncommon; variously marked with white, buff, 
purple, yellow, or reddish tints ; colours which are all reproduced in the 
bark, young wood, fading leaves, and lichens. I recently met with a spider 
of special interest; it had an unusual purple tinge, and was covered with 
soft white hairs, which made it closely resemble the silky purple shoots of 
the Leptospermum on whieh I found it. Occasionally a spider of consider- 
able interest will be met with amongst the capsules of the Leptospermum— 
which is a favourite resort—the abdomen has a rough uneven surface; the 
furrows formed by the peculiar arrangement of the impressed spots give it 
the appearance of being valvate; 8 dark grey penetrative tint appears 
beneath the outer and lighter one, which causes the abdomen to resemble 
a bloom-covered capsule. Although the spider only possesses four not very 
clearly-defined pseudo-valves, the deception is still very striking, and affords 
an interesting example how some of the wonderful cases of protective re- 
semblance or mimicry may have arisen. 
On the Cordyline australis small spiders are to be met with which not 
only assume the colour of the trunk, but, owing to their flat sometimes 
angular figures, and largely-developed tubercles, imitate the muricate bark. 
These spiders are difficult to detect when resting in the interstices of the 
bark. 
If quite different plants are examined rushes, for example—they will also 
be found to be frequented by specially-adapted forms ; the most numerous 
is a species (Theraphosides) with a narrow cylindrical brownish-yellow abdo- 
men, and long slender legs, which it extends in a manner that renders it 
hardly perceptible. 
Many of our geometrical spiders frequent the furze (Ulex europeus), 
where they mostly take the tints of the decàying vegetation—which, owing 
to their habit of concealing themselves amongst the fading leaves and 
flowers, must be advantageous to them. The light brownish-yellow and 
