. Economic entomology. Beneficial insects; Insect pests; Thysanura. BRITISH SPIDERS. 85 CASE Epeira diademata {Clcrck), Diadema, Bl.—Q. Enlarged figure of ditto. VII. No. 9. This is the species known as the " garden ; In France it is the " Porte-croix" or " Croix de St. ; It is common in our gardens in September. The cocoon is formed in October, and is about f in. in diameter, of a roundish shape and yellow colour, and contains a flattened mass of eggs. When the eggs are newly hatched, which takes place in spring, it is said that the following curious
. Economic entomology. Beneficial insects; Insect pests; Thysanura. BRITISH SPIDERS. 85 CASE Epeira diademata {Clcrck), Diadema, Bl.—Q. Enlarged figure of ditto. VII. No. 9. This is the species known as the " garden ; In France it is the " Porte-croix" or " Croix de St. ; It is common in our gardens in September. The cocoon is formed in October, and is about f in. in diameter, of a roundish shape and yellow colour, and contains a flattened mass of eggs. When the eggs are newly hatched, which takes place in spring, it is said that the following curious sight may be seen. The little spiders, almost as soon as they leave the tgg, spin a small irregular mass of almost invisible T • .1 "JJ1 c ^ ' ^ A^ i . Epeira diademata (slightly lines, m the middle 01 which they cluster magnified). ' together, forming themselves into a little ball about the size of a cherry stone. This hangs apparently in mid-air, and if an observer, approaching it to discover its nature, touches some one of the slender lines by which it is suspended, or some twig near enough to communicate the motion to them, in an instant some six or eight hundred living atoms begin to dis- perse—the solid little ball seeming for a moment to be turning into smoke, so minute are the animals, so rapid their motions, and so invisible the means of their dispersion. After a few seconds, if the disturbance be not repeated, the little creatures begin to sub- side again into a cluster, but this is not at once restored to its former small size ; and, indeed, it is easy to understand that up- wards of six thousand legs, however small, must require some time in the packing, not to mention six or eight hundred pairs of poison fangs, which perhaps, even at this early age, may exact due observance on behalf of their respective owners. This spider has, like some others, a habit of quivering rapidly in its web. It has, also, a mode of disabling a victim, by twirling it, and at t
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