2 THOS. H. MONTGOMERY, JR. 



there may be frequent copulations before the first act of oviposi- 

 tion, and even between successive acts. But since the males 

 begin to disappear before the full series of cocoons is made, and 

 especially because my captive females produced successive co- 

 coons without the presence of males, and yet these eggs were 

 fertile, it is apparent that copulation before the first act of ovipo- 

 sition suffices for the fertilization of the later sets of eggs. Nearly 

 150 females were kept in small cages consisting of wooden and 

 paper boxes covered on one side by glass ; there was very little 

 mortality among them, and at the end of the month they were 

 manumitted in good condition. 



The processes of oviposition and cocooning were observed in 

 part or completely in a large number of cases, and may be sum- 

 marized as follows. The female commences the cocooning by 

 biting through certain threads in a particular region of the web ; 

 she then gathers the cut ends together with her legs, thus mak- 

 ing a free space in which to work and at the same time forming 

 a composite thread that serves for the initial suspension of the 

 cocoon as well as of herself during the process of construc- 

 tion. She spins upon the lower end of the suspension thread, 

 and combs out the new line into a fluffy ball ; this is the 

 beginning of the base of the cocoon, and the spider employs for 

 the combing mainly the third pair of legs, but to some extent 

 the fourth also. From this point in the operations until the 

 cocoon is nearly completed the spider hangs to lines of the sur- 

 rounding web by her first and second pairs of legs, with her 

 cephalothorax directed vertically and above the abdomen. 

 When the fluffy fundament of the cocoon base has a diameter 

 somewhat larger than the length of the cephalothorax of the 

 spider, the latter rotates this loose textured ball with her palpi 

 and third pair of legs, and with the fourth pair in alternate appli- 

 cation draws a thread out from her spinnerets and applies it to the 

 lower rim of the fluffy ball. She continues this motion until the 

 base of the cocoon has attained the form of an inverted cup, the 

 upper convexity of which is attached to the suspensory line. 

 Towards the close of the base-making her spinning becomes 

 gradually slower. Then she proceeds to oviposit. She lifts 

 herself slightly by contracting the anterior pairs of legs, then 



