SOCIAL HABITS OF SPIDERS. 43 
Another observation looking in the same direction has been recorded 
since my work went to press. Rev. O. P. Cambridge! describes a spider 
of the family Eresidee whose nest came under observation in the 
A Grega- London Zoological Society’s Gardens. It was sent thither by 
rious Colonel Bowker from Durban to Lord Walsingham, who at Mr. 
ose Cambridge’s suggestion sent it to the Gardens. The nest con- 
grade in 5 ore eee, 
London, tained from one hundred to one hundred and fifty living indi- 
viduals of both sexes, some adult, some immature, and remained 
in their temporary home for some time in an active and thriving state. 
The nest filled a box two feet long by nine inches wide and five inches 
deep. No detailed description of the home or habits of the colony is given, 
but it would appear to have been simply a mass of threads so thickly 
woven that they formed in places a close tissue something like that which , 
Phidippus opifex (McCook) of California makes for herself on a much 
smaller scale. (Vol. II., page 150, Fig. 185.) That this spider is a social 
one may be inferred from the above scant description, and Mr. Cambridge’s 
statement that the species is “unique in its gregarious habits.” He notes 
that the individuals “appear to devour cockroaches and crickets, tearing 
them to pieces in concert.” This statement, however, is somewhat neu- 
tralized by the additional remark that each “carries off his share of the 
prey, like a pack of hounds breaking up a fox.” It is earnestly to be 
hoped that detailed notes and drawings of this “family” have been 
kept by some trustworthy observer in the Zoological Gardens. Such a 
rare opportunity ought* to have yielded data for definitely determining 
this most interesting problem. 
1 Proceed. Zool. Soc., London, 1889, pages 34, 42, pl. ii., Figs. 4 and 5. 
