American spiders and their spinningworkA natural history of the orbweaving spiders of the United States, with special regard to their industry and habits . k. It is tobe regretted that the description here is so indefinite, as the term cov-ering of strong silk may imply either the flossy boll which is invari-ably found to surround the egg mass of Epeira, or the smooth texturedsilken bag which immediately encloses the eggs and against which theflossy blanketing is laid. When a cocoon of Epeira strix and others ofsimilar habit is cut open, this silken encasement is invariably seen, and it presen
American spiders and their spinningworkA natural history of the orbweaving spiders of the United States, with special regard to their industry and habits . k. It is tobe regretted that the description here is so indefinite, as the term cov-ering of strong silk may imply either the flossy boll which is invari-ably found to surround the egg mass of Epeira, or the smooth texturedsilken bag which immediately encloses the eggs and against which theflossy blanketing is laid. When a cocoon of Epeira strix and others ofsimilar habit is cut open, this silken encasement is invariably seen, and it presents the aj^pearance of having beenthe original substance against which theeggs were directly laid. The same author has been fortunateenough to observe the mode of positingeggs with tfl-o other tribes. The femaleDrassus (Fig. 238), spins a little web Fig. 238. Female Drassus in the act of drop- acrOSS her nCSt and drOpS the CggS UpOllping eggs. (After Emerton.) . ,.,.,,..- it. ihey are soft, and mixed with liquid,and are discharged in one or two drops, like jelly. They quickly suck upthe liquid, and become dry on the surface, sometimes adhering slowly. Habits and Struoture, page 101. 182 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. together. After the eggs are laid, the spider covers them with silk, draw-ing the threads over from one side to the other, fastening them to theedges of the web below. When the covering is comjalete, she bites off thethreads that hold the cocoon to the nest, and finishes off the edges withher jaws. Phidippus galathea (Attus mystaceus Hentz) spins, before laying hereggs, a thick nest of white silk, usually on the under side of a stone. Inthis she thickens a circular patch on the side next the stone, andbalti- discharges her eggs upward against it. (Fig. 239.) They adhere, and are subsequently covered with wliite silk, after the mannercommon to Saltigrades. Mr. Emerton had a female of this sijecies thatdeposited her eggs in confinement; he records that, inst
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectspiders, bookyear1890
