Harvesting Ants and Trap-Door Spiders / Notes and Observations on Their Habits and Dwellings

by John Traherne Moggridge

[Plate III.], p. 23.—The floors of three granaries of Atta barbara, surrounded by the much coarser gravelly earth, of the natural size.

[Plate IV.], p. 31.—A mass of earth pierced by roots, in which the ants (Atta barbara) have made their granaries and galleries. The galleries were full of seeds when first laid open. Of the natural size.

[Plate V.], p. 33, fig. A.—Galleries and terminal cells of a nest of Atta barbara, excavated in the living sandstone rock, drawn in situ, of the natural size; B, part of a cylindrical gallery from another rock-nest, and B 1, the same gallery seen in front, of the natural size.

[Plate VI.], p. 35, fig. A.—A sprouting hemp-seed, part of the radicle of which has been gnawed by the ants, of the natural size; A 1, the same, magnified, rad. radicle; A 2, an entire sprouting seed of the same, magnified; B, a sprouting pea, part of the radicle of which has been gnawed off; B 1, the same, magnified; B 2, the same stripped of its coat, and showing the two seed leaves; C, a sprouting "canary-seed" (the grain of Phalaris canariensis), part of the fibril of which has been gnawed off; C 1, the same, magnified, rad. the radicle which remains undeveloped, and fib. the fibril or first rootlet; C 2, an unmutilated sprouting "canary seed;" D, a mass of earth taken out of the heart of a nest of Atta barbara, in which a spherical cell, made of hardened earth, was buried. It contained grass seeds, among which I found ants at work, and seeds of the same grass still in their husks lay in the gallery leading up to the entrance of this cell; D 1, the same, further freed from the earth, and having part of one side removed, so as to show the interior and the small lower opening leading out from the bottom of the cell.

PART II.—TRAP-DOOR SPIDERS.

[Plate VII.], p. 88, fig. A.—The nest of Cteniza fodiens, the lower part of which is seen in section lying in the earth, the door is artificially represented as partly open; A 1, surface of the door viewed from above; A 2, the spider; A 3, the spider deprived of its legs, from a specimen preserved in spirits [figs. A, A 1, A 2, and A 3, are of the natural size]; A 4, the spider viewed sideways, with the legs removed; A 5, the eyes, viewed from above and in front; A 6, the cephalothorax and falces; A 7, the left hand falx, viewed from the inner side; A 8, the fang of the same; A 9, the tarsal joint of the foremost right leg; A 10, one of the two larger and the smallest claw of the same [figs. A 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, all magnified]. Fig. B, the door of a nest of the same kind, concealed by lichens, below which, on the left hand, the doors of two minute nests of Nemesia meridionalis are seen; B 1, the same, with the doors open; C, the door and mouth of tube of a nest similar to that at A; C 1, the upper surface of this door, which is slightly convex.

[Plate VIII.], p. 94, fig. A.—The nest of Nemesia cæmentaria; A 1, the door of the same, partially open; A 2, the spider; A 3, the same deprived of its legs, from a specimen preserved in spirits [figs. A, A 1, 2, and 3, of the natural size]; figs. A 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 as in [Plate VII.], and magnified; B, a moss-covered lump of earth, in which the door of a nest of the same type as that at A lies concealed; B 1, the same, with the door open; C, the door and mouth of another similar nest, showing the claw marks on its under surface; D, the closed door of a third nest of the same kind; D 1, the same, opened.

[Plate IX.], p. 98, fig. A.—The nest of Nemesia meridionalis; A 1, the open surface-door and mouth of the tube of the same; A 2, the inner and upper surface of the lower door; A 3, the spider; A 4, the same deprived of its legs, from a specimen preserved in spirits [figs. A, A 1, 2, 3, and 4 are of the natural size]; A 5, the spider viewed sideways, with the legs removed; A 6, the eyes, viewed from above and in front; A 7, the cephalothorax and falces; A 8, the left hand falx viewed from the inner side; A 9, the fang of the same; A 10, the tarsal joint of the foremost right leg; A 11, one of the two larger and the smallest claw of the same [figs. A 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, magnified]; B, a mass of earth containing the minute nest of a young spider (N. meridionalis); B 1, the lower door of this nest; B 2, the spider [figs. B, B 1, and 2, of the natural size].

[Plate X.], p. 100, fig. A.—Part of a nest of N. meridionalis; B, the new and larger upper door of a nest of this spider, with the former and smaller upper door partially united to it; C, another example of enlargement in the upper door of the same spider, showing traces of two previous doors now incorporated. [All the figures are of the natural size.]

[Plate XI.], p. 105, fig. A.—The upper part of a nest of N. meridionalis concealed in a plant of Ceterach fern; A 1 and A 2, a minute cork-door, closed and open, which I saw constructed by a very young spider [either Cteniza fodiens, or, more probably, Nemesia cæmentaria] at the mouth of a hole in the mass of earth containing the nest of N. meridionalis figured at A. This hole may be seen on the right of the fern. B, the door of a small nest of N. meridionalis, as seen from above, in its natural position in a steeply sloping bank; B 1, part of the same nest placed in an upright position, and showing the surface door open and the lower door closing the branch; B 2, the same with the lower door pushed across so as to close the main tube; B 3, 4, and 5, different views of this second door. [All the figures in this plate are of the natural size.]