SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



167 



GENUS HAHNIA KOCH. 



The spiders of this genus are easily recognised on 

 account of their shorl form and comparatively small 

 size, luii more so by the curious arrangement of the 



spinners, which are placed in a nearly Straight line 

 upon the under side of the abdomen. 



Hahnia elegans HI. {Agelena elegans Bl.) 

 Length. Male 3 mm., female 3.5 mm. 

 The general colour of this species is a 1 night 

 orange or yellowish-brown. The abdomen is dark 

 brown, with a series of broken angular bars of a yellow 

 colour. It is not common. 



Hahnia nava Bl. {Agelena nava Bl.) 

 Length. Male 2 mm., female 2.3 mm. 

 Cephalo-thorax nearly black. Legs brown. Abdo- 

 men dull blackish. The spinners have the appearance 

 of being annulated, owing to the pale colour of their 

 joints. ■ This is a rather rare spider. I have recently 

 taken it at Hastings. 



Hahnia montana Bl. {Agelena montana Bl. ) 

 Length. Male 2 mm., female 2.5 mm. 

 This species may be distinguished from H. nava 

 Bl. by its paler and more yellowish colour, also by 

 its being less hirsute. It is not common. 



Hahnia Candida Sim. 



Length. Male 1.5 mm., female 1.8 mm. 



This species may be distinguished from H. montana 

 Bl. l>y its smaller size and paler colouring. It is very 

 rare. 



Hahnia helveola Sim. 



Length. Male 3 mm., female 3.5 mm. 



This species may be distinguished from H. montana 

 Bl. by its larger size, its less distinct markings, and 

 by the greater length of the abdominal pubescence. 

 It is very rare. 



FAMILY PHOLCIDAE. 



The spiders included in this small family are very 

 easy to distinguish. The legs are extremely long 

 and slender, the body is cylindrical, and the eyes are 

 arranged in three groups of 3, 2, 3. The eyes of the 

 lateral groups are large, and the central eyes are 

 small ; in some exotic species the centrals are 

 absent. 



GENUS PHOLCUS WALCK. 



The eyes in this genus, which is the only one of 

 this family represented in Britain, are eight in 

 number. The fakes are very small and weak. 



Pholeus phalangioides Fuessl. Fig. 16. 



Length. Male 7 mm., female 9 mm. 



This extremely curious spider is by no means 

 common, but when found it cannot well be mistaken. 

 It spins a loose web in the angles of walls in out- 

 buildings, cellars, etc., and when anything touches 

 its snare it rapidly retracts and extends its legs, thus 

 throwing the whole fabric into violent motion. This 



curious performance, which is indulged in by a number 

 of other spiders such as Epeirids and Theridiidids, 

 may be for the purpose of eluding an enemy, as the 



creature bec< almost invisible when in motion ; 



or, more probably, for the purpose of entangling its 

 prey. This process seems to reach its maximum with 

 n gard to violence of motion in Pholeus ; but a neater 

 and more scientific method is indulged in by Hyptioles 

 paradoxus. This little creature makes a triangular 

 web with viscid lines crossing from side to side, the 

 base line being produced on each side and fastened 

 to any neighbouring projection. The animal sits at 

 the apex, which is attached by a strong line to some 

 twig, and gathers up a length of this line into a coil, thus 

 drawing the web tight. As soon as an insect touches 

 the web the spider releases its hold, thus allowing the 

 whole structure to be thrown forward against the 

 captive. If necessary the process is repeated several 

 times, and the spider then rushes down one of the 

 lines and seizes its hopelessly entangled victim. This 

 spider has been recently taken, in plenty, in the New 

 Forest (see Science-Gossip, March 1900). I have 

 received Pholeus phalangioides from Norwich and 

 Hampshire ; and the Rev. E. N. Bloomfield tells me 

 it used to be very common at Guestling Rectory, 

 near Hastings. 



( To be continued.') 



ABNORMAL MUSHROOM. 



An unusually-shaped mushroom {Agariczis campes- 

 tris) with three pileoli on one stem was collected at 

 Corby, near Kettering, on August 28th last, by Mr. 

 Lumby. I enclose a photograph of the example, 

 as it is of such rare occurrence to find monstrosities 



ABNORMAL MUSHROOM. 



of this character among the fungi. It will be 

 observed that the gills are all turned to the outside. 

 Of course one cap is not visible in the picture, but it 

 was perfect as the rest. W. W. Midgley. 



Chadwick Museum. Bolton, 

 October $th, 1900. 



Noi E. — Our readers will remember that we figured 

 a monstrosity somewhat like Mr. Lumby's specimen. 



in Science-Gossip, vol. iv., n.s., page 272. In that 



case the specimen was double and not a triplet. — 

 [E... S.-G.] 



