I have been favoured[1] with a sight of an unpublished manuscript by Mr. Hansard giving an account of his observations on Cteniza fodiens, made in Corfu. This gentleman states that some of these spiders which he kept in captivity, used to come out at night, and might sometimes be surprised roaming about the room at a very early hour in the morning. He, however, relates that he had received from a friend an account of a trap-door spider inhabiting the island of Formosa, in the China seas, which constructed nests similar to those of Cteniza fodiens, but which were habitually to be seen outside their nests in the daytime, attracting attention by "staring at" any one who might approach, and then hurrying back to their nests and closing their doors after them.
Lady Parker has also told me of some black trap-door spiders which were so common about Paramatta, near Sydney, in Australia, that scarcely any one paid attention to them, and which might habitually be seen out on the garden paths in the daytime near their holes, to which they would run in all haste when alarmed. The eye of the passer-by was attracted by the open doors, which were about the size of a sixpence, and fall over backwards when the spider makes her exit, but when closed, on her return, they fit so neatly that it is extremely difficult to detect them.
It will, perhaps, have been observed that I have throughout spoken of the female spider only, scarcely any allusion having been made to the male. The truth is that, though I have carefully searched for
- ↑ I am indebted to Mr. Moseley for procuring this MS., and to Prof. Rolleston, whose property it is, for permission to make use of it.
