COCOON LIFE AND BABYHOOD. 



217 



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A number of cocoons forwarded to me in the early spring, by Mrs. 

 Eigenmann, from San Diego, California, gave me an opportunity to note 

 the tendency of young Orbweavers in outdoor site. The co- 

 Escap- coons were fixed upon bushes within the forks of branches, at 

 Cocoon *^^® ^™^ when the young were just ready to escape. They evi- 

 dently felt the fresh air of the open, as contrasted with the boxes 

 in which they had been confined, and at once 

 pushed their way from the flossy interior to the 

 outside of the cocoon. Then one adventurous 

 spirit scrambled to a branch and began to as- 

 cend a stem. Another and another followed, 

 each trailing a dragline along the surface, until 

 at last several threads were merged into one, 

 which the little creatures laid hold of as suc- 

 ceeding numbers emerged from the cocoon. 

 Thus a long line of them appeared climbing 

 up the thread, which at places swung free 

 from the stem, and at others hugged it closely. 

 (Fig. 250.) They reminded me of a watch of 

 sailors following each other up the shrouds of 

 a ship. 



Here and there, at various points, individ- 

 uals would strike out an independent line of 

 progress, and would be sure to be 

 followed by some of their comrades. 



First 



ment to ^'^"^ might be seen dangling from a 

 Ascend. ^^^^ by a slender filament ; another 

 with elevated abdomen sending out 

 the first lines of a tentative balloon; a third 

 already emljarked on an aeronautic venture, 

 swinging free and swaying in the breeze. (Fig. 

 250.) The general tendency was to ascend ; 

 scarcely a spider went below the point at which 

 the egg sac was fixed. Here and there little 

 groups would form and hang back downward 

 for a while by a few crossed threads; these 

 again would break up, and at last, well toward 

 the summit of the bush, the colony, with the ex- 

 ception of a few independent characters, massed 

 themselves under a leafy shelter, and so remained pendent like a ball — legs, 

 palps, heads, and abdomens mingled in a confused mass. (Figs. 251, 252.) 

 This I suppose to be a good example of the general habit at this period. 

 The "balling" or "snugging" of the brood is quite sure to suggest to the 

 observer the apjjearance of a swarm of bees just escaped from the home hive. 



Fig. 250. Cocoon fixed upon a rose 

 bush, and spiderlings issuing there- 

 from. To show tendency to ascend 

 and migrate. 



