. American spiders and their spinning work. A natural history of the orbweaving spiders of the United States, with special regard to their industry and habits. Spiders. Epeira cocoon protected by a tent of close spinningwork. In other cases, however, as in the angles of walls, porches, outhouses, etc., the silken egg pad is itself enclosed in a tent of spinning work more or less open. (Fig. 60.) In some cases this tent is little more than a series of lines drawn across the angle at a little distance from the cocoon, as at Fig. 61. Strix, Sclo- potaria, and Domiciliorum are all in the hahit of
. American spiders and their spinning work. A natural history of the orbweaving spiders of the United States, with special regard to their industry and habits. Spiders. Epeira cocoon protected by a tent of close spinningwork. In other cases, however, as in the angles of walls, porches, outhouses, etc., the silken egg pad is itself enclosed in a tent of spinning work more or less open. (Fig. 60.) In some cases this tent is little more than a series of lines drawn across the angle at a little distance from the cocoon, as at Fig. 61. Strix, Sclo- potaria, and Domiciliorum are all in the hahit of weav- ing around their cocoons such a tent. A Domicile spider, which I found in the act of com- pleting her cocoon, was con- tent with a scantier cover- ing than this. Her egg sac was an oval mass of yellow- ish brown silk one and one- foiu'th inch long by three- fourths of an inch wide. It was fastened upon a twig of a pine tree. At one end short lines were thickly strung across from the needle like leaves, making a sort of " fly" or awning. This • °m °^^ was repeated at the other end, thus about half covering the cocoon. The mother spider hung to a few threads above (Fig. 62) her egg nest, with shrunken abdomen, and so much exhausted as to be little inclined to move. This cocoon was made September 24th. For the most part the outer tent is of closer texture than those above described, being in fact an enclosing curtain of silken cloth, through which the outline of the cocoon within may be traced. (Fig. 63.) Great numbers of these tent enclosed cocoons may be seen at the boat houses near tlie Inlet of Atlantic City and Cape May. They are made during the last daj^s of May and to the middle or last of June, and again in the fall. ^ The cocoons measure seven-eighths of an inch long by six-eighths of an inch wide, and less. The enclosing tent measures Foreordi- ^^^^ j^^^ ^^^,q ,^^^ ^ |jj^j£ inches long by Nature ^°® ^^^ three-eighths inch wide. Fre- quently the ten
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectspiders, bookyear1889
