made nests; so that unless all of these were females, we have evidence here to prove that the males do commence life by building nests for themselves.
I kept the male Cteniza Moggridgii, for ten days on damp earth in captivity, but he made no attempt to excavate or spin, and wandered restlessly about, scarcely touching the flies[1] with which I supplied him.
Seeing this I could not venture to prolong his captivity, as I feared to risk injuring a specimen which was quite unique and which there was little likelihood of my being able to replace. It is rather curious that M. Simon should also have found one male, and one only, of the closely-related Ct. fodiens of Corsica, and that his specimen should be, like mine, the only one known.
Bearing in mind the curious problems which arise as to the affinities of the flora and fauna of the Alpes Maritimes with that of Corsica, the fact that the species of Cteniza which is found at Mentone, though allied to, is yet distinct from the insular species, gains a new interest.
We ask ourselves whether the Corsican species sprang from that of the Alpes Maritimes, or vice versâ; or again, whether both diverged in remote times from a common ancestor. Questions such as these cannot be answered at present, but I hope the day may come when the geographical distribution of the various
- ↑ I habitually fed my captive spiders with common house-flies, and it was curious to see how entirely the latter were wanting in any instinctive fear of even the largest spiders. They would creep between the spiders' legs, causing them to start as if electrified, and frequently it was not until the flies, after repeating this annoyance several times, actually walked up to and almost touched the fangs of the spider, that they were punished for their ignorance and presumption.
