1977] 
Robinson — Insects and Spiders 
229 
Figure 2. Larva (unidentified) feeding on a moth within the web of Cyrtophora 
nympha. The characteristic fine mesh of the Cyrtophora web is visible in the back- 
ground. 
Other Moth Caterpillar/ Spider Symbioses 
The following observations are fragmentary but are worth re- 
cording to alert workers in this field to the possibility of widespread 
symbioses between web-building spiders and lepidopterans. The 
most excitingly suggestive observation is the discovery, during my 
brief visit to Wau Ecology Institute, Papua New Guinea, in May 
1977, of caterpillars living in colonies of a social theridiid there. 
The theridiid has not yet been determined and its relationship to 
the Neotropical Anelosimus eximius is thus unknown. Despite this, 
it is reasonable to assume that the symbiotic caterpillars represent 
a case of convergent evolution. I would guess that they were not 
noctuid caterpillars, but none were collected. 
