THE SPIDERS. 331 



On the other hand, the French trap-door spiders described 

 by de Walkenaar work or hunt only by night. They also 

 spin webs in the neighborhood of their nests. Costa says of 

 the South Italian Nemesia meridionalis that it makes its nest 

 very variously, according to the nature of the ground in 

 which it builds, and that it makes the silken covering the 

 thicker the looser the earth is. In very firm ground the 

 cylinder, except close to the entrance, is smoothed and 

 smeared over, while in other cases the creature builds so 

 strong a tunnel that even when the earth is removed it stands 

 open, the architect having had the prudence to attach it all 

 round to separate steady points. 



Moggridge watched the process of building of a captive 

 spider, after he had previously made a cylindrical hole in 

 the earth. But doors made in such cases are not generally 

 as perfect as the natural ones, as though under the unac- 

 customed conditions the spider did not think it worth while 

 to develop its whole art. They often build none at all, or, 

 against their usual habit, make long closed webs of spun 

 silk, which they stretch between the earth and the gauze 

 covering their prison and in which they hide. These webs 

 have some resemblance to the already described above-ground 

 tubes made by the Atyjnt*. 



All the trap-door spiders kept by Moggridge were busier 

 during the night than during the day. They have less 

 apparently to fear during the night from their enemies 

 (baboons, squirrels, birds, lizards, turtles, frogs, toads, wasps, 

 etc.), while their game, such as ants, beetles, earwigs, wood- 

 lice, etc., are as much about during the night as they are 

 themselves. All trap-door spiders do not spin webs, like 

 those described by Erber, but many lie in wait at the 

 entrance of their dwelling for passing insects, which they 

 catch with a swift spring or grab and pull into their hole, 

 pulling to the half open door behind them or letting it fall. 



If the doors of the trap-door spiders' nests are pulled off, it 

 is found that they are replaced anew. But if they are fastened 

 down firmly with a pin, so that they cannot be opened, the 

 inhabitant makes a fresh opening close by, and provides it 

 with a door. This accident may also often happen naturally 

 by chance events. 



Moggridge one day tied open firmly with a thread three 

 trap-doors standing in a row, so that they could not be shut 



