GENERAL COCOONING HABITS OF Sl'IDKKS. 131 



these flies, wliich were determined by the eminent liymenopterist, ISIr. Ezra 

 T. Cressou, to be Pezomachus meabilis Cresson. 



I collected cocoons somewhat similar to those of Limicunaj near Alex- 

 andria Bay, New York, on the St. Lawrence River. They were 

 A Con- attached by very loose spinningwork to the under side of stones, 

 gomeia e^^^^^ ^j^^ external case, instead of being mud, was a mass of ag- 

 Ball glomerated particles of old wood, bark, leaves, blossoms, shells 



and wings of insects, etc., which were held together by a deli- 

 cate weft of threads. (Figs. 153, 154, 157.) 



Two of these balls contained whitish cocoons similar to those in the 

 mud balls of LimicuncC. (Fig. 155.) Another had within it the charac- 

 teristic cases of some hymenopterous insect, containing dried pupte. A 

 very thin veneering of soil immediately enclosed the silken egg pouch, 

 but otherwise no mud plaster was used. I did not succeed in hatching 

 spiders from the specimens, and could not therefore determine that these 

 cocoons were made l)y the same spider that constructs the mud balls of 

 Illinois, but I am inclined to think they were made by , 



the same or a closely related species. ^ a-^W 



This hal)it of protecting cocoons with an armor of m^j<''^^i^^^^l^ 

 mud and agglutinated I'ubbish of divers kinds, is widely ^\*i?'V'V5i^'> 

 spread, and is, no doubt, quite cosmopolitan. It is pos- ^J ' V. 'S^f^''Jj 



sessed l^y several of the Etiropean species. Teg- ... ^^ 

 The Habit gj^.^^,..^ agrestis is found under rocks, in which -^"^ 



Cathohc. ... ,, ,, , , 1 I'l'-. 157. Globular 



position the mother attaches tier large cocoon, cocoon of Micaria, 

 about half an inch in diameter, formed of a triple or armored with ciup- 



. . piQgs, soil, etc. X 2. 



quadruple envelope. The first are thin, white, containing 

 a layer of sand and the debris of insects agglutinated together, followed 

 by a third envelope of beautiful orange red, which contains a loose wad, 

 a little compacted where tlie eggs are. Tlie mother makes several cocoons, 

 which she abandons and leaves isolated, or which she encloses under a 

 single welj, tine and transparent. In France these cocoons are found in 

 .July and August, chiefly in woods. ^ 



The cocoon of Tegenaria emaciata, as described Ijy Walckenaer, is formed 

 of a round mass larger than a good sized pea. Tliis mass is composed of 

 soil agglutinated and mingled with the detritus of the bodies of small in- 

 sects, as beetles, ants, and others. In the midst of this mass of earth is 

 placed the cocoon, of a beautiful orange yellow color, but not perfectly 

 globular, having the shape of a little flask. 



The particles of earth which enclose this are held together by filaments 

 of silk, but are not enveloped by white silk, as is the case with Tegenaria 

 agrestis. The immediate envelope of the cocoon is a pellicle so 'compact 



^ McCook : "A Spider that makes a Spherical Mud Daub Cocoon." Proceed. Acad. Nat. 

 Sci., Philadelphia, 1884, page 1-51. 



2 Walckenaer, Apteres, Volume II., page 8. 



