SOUTH AFRICAN SOCIAL SPIDERS. 419 
when one thinks that an intelligent insect like the Bee is appar- 
ently unable to find a weak spot in the less efficient armour of 
the Cetoniid Hoplostomus fuligineus, Ol., when it enters her hive 
to rifle the honey. But it would take quite a long list to 
enumerate all the species of Coleoptera which I have found dead 
in the nests of these rapacious creatures, for in truth “all is fish 
that comes to their net,’ even though it be the evil-smelling 
Lycus or the caustic Mylabris. To illustrate the strength of the 
silk, I might mention the capture of such powerful Beetles as 
Copris, Catharsius, and the large Bolboceras panza, Pér.; more- 
over, our large Migratory Locust (Acridium purpuriferum, Walk.) 
is, I am pleased to say, occasionally to be found in the larder, 
and anyone who has received a kick on the finger from the 
spiny leg of this objectionable insect will realise that it would 
take something pretty strong in the way of Spider’s silk to 
secure him. | 
At onetime I had thought these Spiders never entirely 
nocturnal in their habits, and so far as the construction of their 
snares is concerned they are no doubt crepuscular, like most 
Spiders of procryptic colouring. But I find they are by no means 
loth to emerge in broad daylight to capture their prey; and 
when a luckless Beetle becomes enmeshed, two or three rapidly 
rush out and tackle it, keeping as much beneath it as possible, 
apparently to prevent any attack from above. Should the insect 
be too large for them, other Spiders come out to assist, and it 1s 
hauled off with all speed under shelter, no attempt being made 
to bind it up in any way as the geometric Spiders do. Judging 
by the position of the dead bodies of their prey, it is probable 
that at night many are devoured in situ, but even then the 
majority must be carried inside the nest. 
The eggs are usually laid about February or March, being 
placed in small flat circular cocoons of a yellow colour. The 
young Spiders are much more rotund in appearance than their 
parents, and of a yellow colour. In the early winter the nests 
may be noticed to fall considerably into disrepair, and the 
damaged snares_are no longer mended, and eventually disappear. 
On investigation I found this to be due to the fact that about 
this time the older generation dies off entirely, the nests then 
being found to contain only young Spiders. The dead bodies of 
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