These spiders and their nests have been already described and figured in Ants and Spiders under the names of Ct. fodiens and Nemesia cæmentaria. Recent discoveries have however shown that these spiders possess distinctive characters of their own, and, though closely allied to the species indicated, should be separated from them.
Last spring when pulling down an old terrace-wall (by permission) I had the good fortune to discover the very remarkable male Cteniza drawn at fig. A, [Pl. XX], p. 254. I found no trace of a nest or web of any kind, and the spider was merely hiding between the stones.
There appears to be scarcely any doubt that this is the male of the female Mentonese Cteniza which has, up to this time, been called Ct. fodiens. A comparison with typical specimens of the true Ct. fodiens from Corsica, has however shown that the two are certainly distinct, and Mr. Pickard-Cambridge[131] now describes the Mentonese form under the name of Ct. Moggridgii.[132]
[131] Mr. Pickard-Cambridge has once more kindly undertaken the task of naming and describing my collections of trap-door spiders, and the results of his labours will be found at the end of the present work.
[132] I take this opportunity of thanking him for the compliment. A description of this new species will be found at p. 254, below.
The females of the true Cteniza fodiens are far larger than those of our new Mentonese species, and construct their nests in dry and exposed places, instead of in the moist and shady ivy-covered banks selected by the latter. I have found Cteniza Moggridgii at San Remo and Mentone, and it will probably be also discovered at Nice, but I failed to detect it either at Cannes or Hyères.
The Corsican male at the first glance curiously resembles that found at Mentone, but differs essentially in details and especially in having the surface of the caput unbroken, whereas the caput of the latter presents a very peculiar character in an impressed line which runs across it from side to side (figs. A 1 and A 2). Both agree, however, in being strangely unlike their females.
The other builder of a nest of the cork type at Mentone was, as has been already stated, described and figured in Ants and Spiders under the name of Nemesia cæmentaria. Now the true N. cæmentaria of Latreille is found at Montpellier, the classical habitat where the first discovery of trap-door spiders in Europe was made towards the end of the last century, but its true characters have been hitherto but imperfectly known.
I have lately been able to secure several specimens at this place, and they certainly differed in their markings from the so-called cæmentaria of Mentone. M. Simon had previously informed me that he considered our Mentonese spider distinct from the typical cæmentaria, and had kindly proposed to give my name to the Mentonese species; and now Mr. Pickard-Cambridge, on the receipt of the specimens collected by me at Montpellier, coincides with M. Simon, and adopts his nomenclature, calling the Mentonese Nemesia N. Moggridgii.[133]
[133] See below, p. 273.