SCHEFPER : COCOONING HABITS OF SPIDERS. 93 



Other trash held together by a loose outer spinning work en- 

 closing the cocoon proper. The latter is nearly spherical, about 

 one-half inch in diameter, and has more dry dirt interwoven in 

 its envelopes. The inside is soft, cottony, and pure white. It 

 contains about 125 white eggs, which are not agglutinate. The 

 mother spider remains in the web with the cocoon, carefully 

 repairing any damage to the supports of the latter. 



Family ARGIOPID^. 



It would not be practicable, or perhaps even possible, to 

 say anything in a general way about cocooning habits in this 

 family. It is by far the largest group of Araneida, and its nu- 

 merous species have been arranged in very many subfamilies 

 and supergenera, some of which are themselves larger than 

 other entire spider families. We can, however, arrive at some 

 knowledge of the diversified cocooning habits of these orb- 

 weavers by a comparative study of a number of types. 



Type: Araneus labyrintheus. 



The Labyrinth spider spins, in addition to the regular orb, a 

 barrier web consisting of a maze of intersecting lines. Near 

 the top of this labyrinth the female fastens her string of five or 

 six cocoons. The first of these is spun about the middle of 

 August, and the others added at intervals until late in October. 

 When the leaves have fallen and the early winter winds have 

 torn the webs to shreds, the strings of cocoons can easily be 

 found attached by three or four tightly stretched lines radiating 

 to the tips of twigs on bushes or low trees. These supporting 

 lines are strong enough to sustain the weight of the branch to 

 which they are attached, when the latter is broken off. The 

 cocoons are placed so close together as to overlap for half their 

 width, and the whole string is usually protected by bits of 

 leaves or a light silken sheath. Each cocoon is composed of two 

 valves — a short, oblique, conical case for the eggs and a slightly 

 convex cover, about three-eighths of an inch in diameter, for the 

 same. Both basal portion and cover are of paper-like texture, 

 the former light brown in color, the latter gray. The eggs are 

 further protected by a light packing of fluffy brown silk in the 

 interior of the case. They are yellowish red, adhere slightly, 

 and number twenty-five or thirty in each cocoon. The young 



