SCHEFFER : COCOONING HABITS OF SPIDERS. 95 



These are slightly agglutinate, and are placed on a felt-like rug 

 somewhat denser in texture than the rest of the cocoon. The 

 young broods are produced late in the summer. I have found 

 some in the egg state and some just hatched the first week in 

 September. The cocoon is too loose to afford much protection, 

 which probably accounts for the spiderlings leaving it early in 

 the fall to spend the winter elsewhere. The adult females are 

 seldom seen about their cocoons, and they disappear entirely at 

 the approach of cold weather. 



Type: Meta menardi. 



A spider dwelling in caves, tunnels or dark recesses among 

 the rocks on the side of a gorge. The cocoons are pear-shaped 

 affairs, about seven-eighths inch and five-eighths inch in longest 

 and shortest diameter respectively. They are of pure white, 

 filmy tissue, so transparent that the egg mass can be photo- 

 graphed through the outer envelope by transmitted light. They 

 are suspended by a sort of neck or short pedicle from the roof 

 of the cave. The female remains on or near the cocoon for 

 some time after depositing the eggs. The latter form a small 

 yellow ball, a little more than one-fourth of an inch in diame- 

 ter, held together by fine threads of tangled silk. They are 

 apparently not agglutinate. They number 300 or 400. The 

 cocooning season for this species is, in the neighborhood of 

 Ithaca, N. Y., the latter part of August and the early days of Sep- 

 tember. The young spiders soon hatch, but remain in the co- 

 coon through the winter. 



Type : Theridiosoma gemmosum. 



The Ray spiders live a retired life along the banks of some 

 creek, where overhanging bushes and projecting rocks afford 

 the gloom they seek. In such locations, especially in the dark 

 recesses under clusters of roots, we may look for their cocoons 

 in midsummer. They are among the most interesting to be 

 found ; little golden brown balls, about one-eighth inch in di- 

 ameter, suspended by a single glossy white thread nearly an 

 inch long. They are paper-like in texture and are attached to 

 this stiff, silken pedicle by a dilation of the latter in the form 

 of a cone. At the time of hatching this little cone lifts up like 

 a lid, adhering by merely a point of the circumference and un- 



