Supplement to Harvesting Ants and Trap-Door SpidersMoggridge, John Traherne
Science
Supplement to Harvesting Ants and Trap-Door Spiders
Moggridge, John Traherne
Ants; Trap-door spiders
An imperfect specimen at the British Museum, from some English
station (exact habitat not given), appears to have the proportions
described by Mr. Brown; the length of the aërial portion of the tube
being less than one-fourth of that of the subterranean; the upper
end of the tube is however open, but I am doubtful whether this was
originally so or not, for the silk is torn at this point, and the
opening may be a rent caused by rough handling.
After a comparison of the above description, it appears to me that
the following are the principal points which remain to be cleared up:
1. What is the precise structure of the nests of Atypus, and are they
always uniform in character at all seasons of the year?
2. What is the use of the exposed aërial portion of the tube?
3. Do the two British species make similar nests?
4. What food, besides worms, does the female live upon, and how does
she obtain it?
5. Does she ever leave the nest?
6. What becomes of these spiders and their nests in the winter, and
how long do they live?
7. When do the young leave the nest; and do they, like their
relatives in the South, construct nests like those of their parents
in miniature?
I would commend all these points to any lover of Nature who may
seek the southern coasts of England during the autumn and winter
months, and I think it more than likely that a careful search in
the sandy banks near St. Leonards, the slopes under the fir-woods
of Bournemouth, and the deep lanes in the neighbourhood of Torquay,
would be rewarded with success.
If the breeding season in England only commences in October, as
appears to be the case in France, it would seem most probable that
the spiders survive the winter. Very possibly these spiders and
their nests might be transplanted and placed for observation in a
garden; and if room were granted them in a greenhouse or Wardian
case, or even in a large flower-pot in a living-room, it is not
unlikely that the warmer temperature might waken them up to renewed
activity.
It seems clear that _Atypus_ has to fear the insidious attacks of
enemies; for not only is the external portion of the tube closed or
almost closed at certain seasons, but it is covered outside with such
materials as may serve to make it resemble the surrounding surface
of the ground. Thus Mr. Brown's nests, lying on a sandy bank, were
covered with particles of sand, while my specimen from Troyes has
moss and fibres of plants woven into its upper extremity.
Indeed, all the European representatives of the suborder
_Territelariæ_ which I have myself met with, conceal their nests
with great care and skill. There appear to be others, however, which
either make no nests at all but hide under stones, or only construct
a simple silk tube, open at the mouth, and without any special
contrivance for its dissimulation. Further observation of the habits
and dwellings of these apparently unworthy members of the trap-door
group is much to be desired.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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