their fore extremities; the longest and strongest of the spines are three in number, and form a kind of transverse row or comb at the extreme inner point on the upper side of each falx; besides these there is a row of short tooth-like spines on either margin of the furrow on the under side of each falx in which the fang lies concealed when at rest. The _Maxillæ_ are short and strong; the palpi issue from their extremity on the outer side, and the inner extremity is somewhat prominent and pointed. The _Labium_ is small, short, somewhat rectangular in form, and broader than high; the apex is a little rounded, and furnished with a single transverse row of small tooth-like spines. The _Sternum_ is somewhat subtriangular in form, much broader behind, where it is rounded on the outer angles. The _Abdomen_ is short oval, very convex above, where it is of a yellowish vinous brown colour, with a slightly darker longitudinal tapering, indistinct central stripe on the fore part; it is sparingly clothed with hairs, and the under side is of a pale dull yellowish colour; the spinners are four in number, and those of the superior pair are the strongest, three jointed and upturned. Adults and immature examples (all females) were found in tubular holes lined with silk and closed at the orifice with a strong solid hinged lid, shutting into the opening like a cork. The portions of nests at B and C in Plate VII. also belong to _Cteniza fodiens_, the latter being very similar to A in its surroundings, but having a rather thinner door, slightly hollowed out above (C 1). The smaller nest shown shut at B and open at B 1,[61] is admirably concealed by mosses and lichens, some of which actually grow upon the door, and here two minute trap-doors, belonging to infantine examples of a distinct species of spider (_Nemesia meridionalis_), are seen on the left hand below. [Footnote 61: It must be clearly understood that when the doors are represented as standing open or ajar this is unnatural, as they always close by their own combined weight and elasticity.] It is not rare to find small colonies of nests of the same or distinct species grouped closely together in this way, though I greatly doubt whether one can safely assume their sociability from this fact. I have very seldom seen nests on the flat ground, where the door would lie horizontally when closed, a sloping or nearly vertical bank being usually chosen, where the door will fall to by its own weight. In the Ionian Islands another species or variety of _Cteniza_, described under the name of _Cteniza (or Mygale) ionica_, and represented as being of an uniform yellow-brown colour, is said to make its nests in the earth of the terraces round the roots of the olive trees.