GENERAL COCOONING HABITS OF SriDERS. 143 



At all events we may consider it fairly well assured that, in her cocoon- 

 ing habits, the female Tarantula tliroughout most, or perhaps all, species, 

 closely resembles tlie Lycosidae, and the resemblance probably ex- 

 tends to all the Territelarise. In other words, the Theraphosid 

 cocoon is, first, round or ovoid ; second, is carried about with the mother, 

 attached to lier body, or kept under her care; and, third, the young for a 

 period longer or shorter remain with their mother. The affinity between 

 these two great groujis of araneads is also marked in their nesting habits ; 

 both burrow into the ground a cylindrical tunnel or shaft, within which 

 they domicile, sometimes lining it more or less completely with silk. 



IV. 



Passing now into the group of Wandering spiders, we reach the co- 

 coonery of the Citigrades, and here find little variety in structure, with 

 scarcely an exception. The cocoons of this 

 tribe are round balls without anj^ interior 

 furnishing, which are carried by the moth- 

 er witliin her jaws, as in the case of Dol- 

 omedes, or lashed to the spinnerets, as 

 with the Lycosids and most other species. 

 (Fig. 174.) The manner in which the co- 

 coon is made has been C{uite fully de- Fk;. 174. Lycosa carrjing her round cocoon 



. , ,„ , ' lashed to her spinnerets. 



scribed by myselt.' 



While walking in the suburbs of Philadelphia, I found under a stone 



a female Lycosa (probably L. riparia Hentz), which I placed in a jar on 



dry earth. For two days the spider remained on the surface 



Lycosa's nearly inactive. The earth was then moistened, whereupon 

 Mode of ..... 



Cocoon- 



mg-. 



(May 2d) she immediately began digging, continuing until she 

 had made a cavity about one inch in depth and height. The 

 top was then carefully overlaid with a tolerably closely woven 

 sheet of white spinningwork, so that the spider was entirely shut in. This 

 cover she fortunately made against the glass side of the jar, and the move- 

 ments of the inmate were thus exposed to view. Shortly after the cave 

 was covered the spider was seen working upon a circular cushion of 

 white silk, about three-fourths of an inch in diameter, which was spun 

 upwards in a nearly perpendicular position against the earthen wall of 

 the cave. The cushion looked so much like the work of Agalena ntevia, 

 and the whole operations of the Lycosa were so like those of that spider 

 when cocooning, that I was momentarily possessed with the thought that 

 I had mistaken the identity altogether, and again examined her carefully, 

 only to be sure that she was indeed a Lycosid. 



'"How Lycosa fabricates her round cocoon." Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1884, 

 page 1I^<S. 



