NEST making: its origin and use. 



317 



Therid 

 ioids. 



of these ; in the midst of her pyramidal snare of interlacing lines, or, at 

 other times, sheltered underneath a growing leaf, she prepares a perfect 

 little nesting tent, which is fastened by silken cords into a dome 

 ^^^^op®^^ like frame. The tent is lined with white silk, and is covered 

 with small dead leaves or flowers, or the stamens of larger flow- 

 ers, or anything which has presented itself. It is decorated with 

 the wings or other parts of insects, among which 

 the beautiful wing cases of the nut weevil are often 

 found. This tent is not used for a domicile alone, 

 but as a receptacle for the cocoon.' 



Theridium riparium builds a nest which Black- 

 wall thus concisely describes: She fabricates •^^l^^■^93'Thetuhu\^vnestof^ 



•' fealtigrade spider, in a rolled leaf. 



slender, conical tube of silk, of a very slight 



texture, measuring from one and a half to two and a half inches in 

 length, and about one-half inch in diameter at its lower extremity. It 

 is closed above, open below, thickly covered externally with bits of indu- 

 rated earth, small stones, and withered leaves and flowers, which are in- 

 corporated with it, and is suspended perpendicularly, by lines attached to 

 its sides and apex, in the irregular snare constructed by this species. In 

 the upper part of this triangular domicile tlie female spins several glob- 

 ular cocoons of yellowish white silk, of a slight texture, whose mean 

 diameter is about one-eighth of an inch, in eacli of wliicli she deposits 

 from twenty to sixty small spherical eggs, of a pale, yellowish white color, 

 not agglutinated together. The young remain wdth the mother for a long 

 period after quitting the cocoons, and are provided by her with food, 

 which consists chiefly of ants.^ 



In point of fact, this English Lineweaver possesses the faculty of nest 



building to as remarkable a degree as any 

 known spider. I therefore insert at length 

 a series of interesting observations recorded 

 by Mr. Edward H. Kobertson, of Brixton, 

 England. ^ 



Riparium has a great antipathy to strong 

 light, and usually completes her nest under 

 tlic shade of overhanging banks, 

 seldom making her ap})carance 

 during the day, and becoming act- 

 ive as darkness creeps on. The nest is a 

 tube varying in length from one to two and a lialf inches, closed above, 

 but open at the lower end, the diameter at the mouth being about one-half 



Material 

 Used. 



Fig. 294. Nest of Theridium zelotypum. 



^ Staveley, British Spiders, page 145. 



^ Blackwall, "Kesearches in Zoology," page 356. Also, Spiders of Great Britain. Introduc- 

 tion, page l». 



* "Science Gossip," January, 1868, page 12 sq. 



