. The Cambridge natural history. Zoology. 3S6 ARACHNIDA—ARANEAE clears away the net, adding the material of it, M. Erber believes,, to the trap-door. No true trap-door Spider has as yet been found in this country, but the allied Atypidae are represented by at least one species, Atyims affinis, which has been discovered in colonies in some localities in the south of England, notably near Ventnor in the Isle of Wight, and on Bloxworth Heath in Dorsetshire. This, spider, like its continental cousins, excavates a hole in the earth, generally near the edge of a heathery bank, and lines it with a tu
. The Cambridge natural history. Zoology. 3S6 ARACHNIDA—ARANEAE clears away the net, adding the material of it, M. Erber believes,, to the trap-door. No true trap-door Spider has as yet been found in this country, but the allied Atypidae are represented by at least one species, Atyims affinis, which has been discovered in colonies in some localities in the south of England, notably near Ventnor in the Isle of Wight, and on Bloxworth Heath in Dorsetshire. This, spider, like its continental cousins, excavates a hole in the earth, generally near the edge of a heathery bank, and lines it with a tube of silk of such firm texture that it may be removed intact from the earth in which it is embedded. The silken tube projects some two inches above the ground, either erect among the roots of the heather, or lying loosely upon the surface. Its extremity is always found to be closed, whether from its own elasticity or by the deliberate act of the proprietor is uncertain, and it seems probable that the animal spends almost the whole of its existence in the tube. Simon believes that it feeds almost entirely upon earth-worms which burrow into its vicinity, and which it, therefore, need not leave its nest to catch ; but the remains of beetles and earwigs have been found in the tubes at Ventnor. This description of nest seems common to all species of the genus Atypus. The American " Purse-web Spider," A. aliboti, burrows at the foot of a tree, against the trunk of which it rears the projecting portion of its silken tube. At the Ijottom of the nest the cavity is enlarged, and blind processes project in different directions. Another burrowing spider, Cyrtau- chenius elongatus, surmounts its silk- lined burrow by a funnel-shaped struc- ture of pure white silk, about three Fig. 194. —Funnel of Oyrtau- inches in height and two or three chenins elongatus. (After . . jl'Cook.) inches m width, ihere is no attempt at concealment, and the white funnels are conspicuous among the
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1895
