[157] Ants and Spiders, p. 101.
XIII. N. meridionalis, Costa.—Structure of nest doubtful (see description in Ants and Spiders, p. 138). Found near Naples and in Ischia. M. Simon has discovered a spider in Corsica which he considers the same as that described by M. Costa under the name of meridionalis, but it seems desirable, in order thoroughly to establish this conclusion, that specimens of the spiders and their nests from these distant habitats should be compared together.
We can scarcely suppose that the real geographical distribution of the above-named twelve species is as restricted as it would appear to be from the above enumeration, and there is little doubt, I think, that many more habitats will be added in time. Indeed, our knowledge of the habits and distribution of these spiders can only as yet be said to be in its infancy, the whole subject being, for the most part, new and untrodden ground.
But, it may be asked, what are the chances in the future for the discovery of undescribed spiders and types of nests: and what reward of this kind may the travelling naturalist expect in order to compensate him for the time and pains which such a search demands, and which must divert him in a great measure from making other collections?
The reply is not doubtful.
Europe alone, most probably, contains many trap-door spiders the specific characters and habits of which are at present unknown; and as for the warmer regions of other parts of the globe, we only know enough to lead us to surmise that still stranger and more startling discoveries await us there.
Dr. L. Koch's description of the very remarkable branched-wafer nest from Australia, alluded to above (p. 217), and the fragmentary specimens of giant cork-nests from the same country exhibited at the British Museum, give us a hint of what the Antipodes will some day reveal to us; while a stray allusion to a trap-door nest found near Lake Dilolo, in Southern Africa, by Livingstone,[158] affords an indication of their existence in another quarter of the globe. Hitherto but little importance has been attached by naturalists to the study of the nests of trap-door spiders, but a knowledge of their structure is often of the greatest assistance, and will, I venture to predict, be found to afford a clue leading to the discovery of many new species; for it not unfrequently happens that, while two spiders appear so much alike as to pass for representatives of the same species, their nests are totally dissimilar and proclaim them, as in fact they are, quite distinct from one another. For an example of this we have only to turn to the seven species of Nemesia, treated of in the foregoing pages, of which six construct dissimilar nests, and only two, building nests of the cork type, make them alike, though the general resemblance between the spiders themselves is extraordinarily close. Thus far, indeed, it will be seen that no two distinct species of European trap-door spider make wafer nests of the same type, each kind of wafer nest having its own peculiar spider.
[158] "A large reddish spider (Mygale), named by the natives 'sclàli,' runs about with great velocity. Its nest is most ingeniously covered with a hinged cover or door, about the size of a shilling, the inner face of which is of a pure white silky substance like paper, while the outer one is coated with earth precisely like that in which the hole is made, so that when it is closed it is quite impossible to detect the situation of the nest. Unfortunately the cavity for breeding is never seen except when the owner is out, and has left the door open behind her."—Dr. Livingstone, from "Popular Accounts of Travels in South Africa," chap. xvii. p. 221.