284 KANSAS UNIVERSITY SCIENCE BULLETIN. 



III. NOMENCLATURE. 



The body found in the spider egg corresponds to the large 

 single one in Geophilus and Limulus. For this reason I shall 

 use the term vitelline body to designate it, and vitelline globules 

 for the peripheral or scattered masses of yolk. 



IV. MATERIAL AND MEANS OF COLLECTING. 



Spiders are numerous and their eggs are still more so ; for 

 this reason I have been fortunate in not being limited in quan- 

 tity of material. The early appearance of these animals in the 

 spring and late disappearance in the fall is another advantage, 

 as well as their habit of laying three or four times during the 

 year. By or before the middle of March they may be found 

 by turning up stones and old logs or by breaking off the loose 

 bark of trees. The first warm days bring them out in great 

 numbers. For my work, however, I could not go about pick- 

 ing them up indiscriminately, for some of the families do not 

 have their eggs characterized by the vitelline body. The 

 Agelenid?e, fast runners, but very handy to collect on account 

 of their great numbers and showy homes, are among those 

 without the structure. These spiders build the snowy, sheet- 

 like web, so conspicuous on lawns and hedges, which possesses 

 a tube, or funnel, through which the spider makes its retreat. 

 Such spiders can be captured easily, however, by following down 

 the tube, which is deceivingly short and frail at the bottom, and 

 the captive makes little effort to escape when the tube is de- 

 stroyed. Though these spiders have not the vitelline body, 

 they are valuable for studying the form of the ovary ; and in 

 addition the eggs show the behavior of yolk free from the pos- 

 sible influence of a vitelline body. Their eggs are whitish in 

 color, and possess a thinner membrane than those of the 

 Lycosids, which is a favorable condition for fixation and em- 

 bedding. 



The Epeiridae, that brilliantly colored family of orb-weavers, 

 are, like the Agalenidse, without the structure I sought. For 

 this reason my study has been confined to two other families — 

 Therididse and Lycosidae. 



Therodion is the small, light brown or tan-colored spider 



