have on four occasions found the remains of ants' bodies at the bottom of the trap-door spiders' nests.
I have but seldom detected any refuse in these nests, and this accords with what M. Erber tells us[1] of the care with which Cteniza Ariana, which he watched by moonlight in the island of Tinos, carried away the empty bodies of the beetles, the juices of which had been sucked out, to a distance of some feet from its hole. In October, 1872, however, I found a black layer of débris at the bottom of five nests of Nemesia Eleanora, and this was composed principally of the remains of insects, and among others of some rather large beetles.
As far as I am aware, M. Erber is the only naturalist who has ever placed any detailed observations on record as to the nocturnal habits of a trap-door spider in its native haunts; and we may learn from him how we should watch these creatures, if we wish to discover the manner in which they take their prey, and of what their prey consists.
He relates how he witnessed the capture, in the long low snare which Cteniza Ariana spreads close to the ground, of two strong, night-flying beetles (Pimelia and Cephalostenus), and how these were at once devoured, and their horny coats thrown away.
More observations of this kind are greatly wanted, as it is most important that we should know what are the principal sources of food upon which these spiders depend for their existence.
If we could answer the questions, what do they eat?
- ↑ A translation of these very interesting observations will be found below in Appendix B.
