THE ZOOLOGIST
No. 688.—October, 1898.
NOTES on the SOUTH AFRICAN SOCIAL SPIDERS
(STEGODYPHUS).
In one of his interesting papers on the zoological features of the Transvaal (Zool. ante, 157), Mr. W.L. Distant makes reference to our curious little Social Spiders (Stegodyphus gregarius, Camb.), and perhaps a few further remarks on them may not be out of place. Mr. Distant has raised the question as to the size of the nests constructed by this species. This is of course largely dependent on the age of the colony, the structure being gradually enlarged to accommodate the increasing progeny. In the spring months I have often found single chambers, about the size of a shilling, containing a solitary female, the snare consisting of two small, irregular but closely woven screens diverging on either side of the chamber. From this simple structure a graduated series may be traced up to the fully developed nest. I have seen many hundreds of these nests both in Natal and Mashonaland, and, so far as my experience goes, I should say that the one reproduced in Mr. Distant's excellent photograph is well below the average of a fully developed nest, which I should estimate to be at least twice the size, though they are sometimes notably larger. In this country there is a larger and paler species of the same genus, which I do not remember to have met with in Natal, and its nests are often built on a still larger scale, attaining the size of a man's head.
