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RECORDS OF THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM. 
observations went, these spiders lived entirely upon small ants — 
Leptomyrmex erythrocephalus , Fab. These insects were, Mr. 
Froggatt says, drawn into the nests by the spiders, where they 
sucked the vital juices from their bodies, and then threw them 
out. Mr. Masters, who collected some specimens and nests at 
Glen Oak, Williams River, informed me that the nests were 
covered with small ants, and that it was their great numbers on 
the trees that attracted his attention. 
Mr. D. A. Porter, of Tam worth, who has kindly donated both 
spiders and nests to the Trustees, wrote me as follows : — “ The 
trap is a ‘ bag,’ or cul-de-sac , with the opening upwards, and 
generally fixed between the small branches [in a fork]. The ants 
travel over and on it in going upwards , but often ‘ fall in,’ prob- 
ably when coming down.” Further, my correspondent says that 
he has observed the ants inside, travelling round and endeavouring 
to escape, but that he has never noticed one succeed, or try 
to climb out ; he has also seen fragments of dead ants in the 
traps. Mr. Porter is, without doubt, an admirable observer, 
and his remarks are therefore of value. In his letter he says, 
that although he had never noticed a spider in or upon one of 
these traps, he had always found them not far away, and 
as “ they were al ways of the same kind, concluded that they 
were the owners.” It is possible, however, that some of the 
spiders were not at home, when Mr. Porter examined the nests, 
or that they may have escaped his observation, because upon 
closely examining the group of nests presented, I found a living 
example hiding deep down in one of the bags. The colour of the 
animal’s abdomen, and the web of which the nests are made, are 
so much alike that detection is very difficult, and under some 
conditions impossible. 
Mr. Porter informs me that in the Tamworth District these 
nests or traps, so far as he can say, are only found upon one 
variety of bush, known to the aborigines as “ Dthluby.” I am 
again indebted to Mr. J. II. Maiden for his kindness in identifying 
this species. It is the common u Whitethorn,” Bursaria spinosa , 
Cav. (N.O. Pittosporae). From specimens I have handled, how- 
ever, it is evident that this spider constructs its nest in various 
trees or shrubs. The one obtained by Mr. Froggatt at Aelong 
was taken from one of the tea-trees ( Leptospermum sp.), and that 
by Mr. Masters from a Eucalypt. Mr. Porter says in concluding 
his note that the traps are generally situated at two to four feet 
from the ground.* 
* For description and figures of nests the reader is referred to a pre- 
vious paper by me in Proc. Linn. Soc., N.S.W., xxii., 3, 1897, p. 549, pi. 
xviii., figs. 6 and 6a. 
