14 The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. [Feb. 
piece of marble to a smaller block 3 in. distant. All the others had 
remained on the large block and, apparently, were enduring no discomfort. 
Replacing the lid, I left them for another ten minutes, and then removed 
them. In doing so I detected a minute Gordian worm protruding from the 
anus of one of the Araneus. Since'making the unexpected discovery that 
species of Gordius attack the native spiders I have repeatedly tried the 
experiment with varying success. I have also discovered that these para¬ 
sitic worms attack species of the large predaceous native beetles of the 
genus Pterostichus. 
The life-history of Gordius is recorded by E. A. Shipley,* a distinguished 
writer on parasitic worms. Writing on the Nematomorpha be states, 
“ This zoological group includes Gordian worms. The eggs are laid in the 
spring as a rule, and after about a week they give rise to a minute, ringed 
larva with a protrusible boring-apparatus consisting of three chitinous 
rods. By the use of this the larva makes its way into the soft body of 
some insect larva, Ephemerids, Chironomids, or even of Molluscs, and 
encysts in the muscles or fat body. The insect, which may have become 
an imago with the Gordian worms still in it, is then eaten by a carnivorous 
insect or by a fish, and the contained Gordian larva becomes elongate and 
mature in its second host. After a year or more this larva emerges into 
the water and commences to reproduce.'' 
Shipley has figuredf a specimen of Pterostichus niger with the terga 
removed, showing the Gordius in situ. Some months ago I sent a fine 
specimen of Pterostichus chloris Broun, and a native spider, both having 
a Gordius escaping from their body, to Professor Benham, of the University 
of Otago, who confirmed the identification of the worm. 
The upper end of the large water-lily lake in Pukekura Park, New 
Plymouth, is very shallow, and bears a growth of some small species of 
Car ex, Ruppia, and other aquatic weeds. The lake is situated in a narrow 
valley, and in hot summers when the water-supply is limited the tempera¬ 
ture of the water is high and Gordius plentiful, entwining among the weeds. 
They vary much in numbers and size according to the warmth of the 
summers. In 1881 Oerley described! two New Zealand species ( Gordius 
dihlastus, G. pachydermus) from specimens sent to England by the late 
Rev. R. Taylor. Until Hutton’s Index Faunae Novae Zealandiae was pub¬ 
lished in 1904 Oerley’s two species were all that had been described from 
New Zealand, and I am not aware of other species having been described 
since. 
Naturally, the worms obtained from the bodies of spiders by the 
process I have described are all more or less immature. They were pro¬ 
cured from spiders inhabiting the ferns, low-growing shrubs, and dwarf 
Carex growing around the edge of the water-lily lake, where they would 
obtain Gordius- infested insects as food. Owing to the last chilly and 
humid summer experienced in Taranaki, mature Gordian worms were very 
rare among the shallow aquatic plants and weeds occurring in the lake. 
Spiders are warmth-loving animals, and they also were much rarer during 
the chilly summer. I obtained only twtf minute Gordian worms from 
forty-six spiders which underwent the heat-testing process. When at the 
North Egmont Mountain Hostel (2,000 ft. altitude) in the middle of 
* Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. 19, p. 362. 
t Cambridge Natural History, vol. 2, “ Worms.” 
J Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 5, vol. 8, p. 331. 
