38 Studies in Animal Behavior 



So far as the writer is aware the same utter lack 

 of maternal sentiment characterizes all the crusta- 

 ceans as well as the numerous varieties of worms and 

 mollusks. Among the arachnids Fabre has described 

 how the female scorpion assists her young to hatch 

 by carefully tearing away the egg membranes with 

 her jaws. When the tiny scorpions are liberated 

 they have the curious habit of mounting upon the 

 back of the mother, who for a period of several 

 days remains closely confined to her nest. In the 

 spiders, although as a rule only an attitude of hos- 

 tility is manifested toward other members of their 

 own kind, the running spider Lycosa carries her co- 

 coon about with her and when the young spiderlings 

 are hatched they cling in a squirming mass to her 

 body. The mother does not feed or actively care 

 for her young in any way, and it is doubtful if ma- 

 ternal care goes further than a sort of good-natured 

 tolerance of her living burden. 



There is much evidence for the supposition that 

 the first step in the evolution of parental care was 

 taken in the formation of instincts to secure the 

 proper environment for the development of the 

 eggs. Instincts for depositing eggs in places which 

 afford food for the young, instincts for making co- 

 coons or other receptacles for the eggs, and instincts 

 for concealing the eggs from the attacks of other 

 animals are common in animals which are too primi- 

 tive to exhibit any care for, or even recognition of 

 their own offspring. Many mollusks plaster their 



