232 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



spinningwork indicated a Lineweaver — Theridinm, perhaps. Dai'win, how- 

 ever, saw no "central nest" in whicli the eggs were laid; and here I 

 think he misreads Azara, who appears to me to mean that every 

 orbweb has a cocoon or string of cocoons attached to it, pre- 

 cisely as is the case with Cyclosa caudata, or hung in the retitelarian 

 labyrinth above the orb, as is the case with the Labyrinth spider. That 

 Darwin saw no cocoons is not strange, for his observation was made in 

 spring ("May-June"), and as the colony was evidently a spring brood, 

 doubtless immature, the pairing had not begun, and the eggs would not 

 have been deposited until autumn, which in fact was the time when Azara 

 saw them. The two accounts do not, therefore, contradict, but confirm 

 each other. All the details of these two narratives — the number of the 

 brood, the uniformity of the size, the distance by which the individual 

 webs were separated, the straggling uniting threads, which were jn'obably 

 simply incidental to the Orbweavers' habitual behavior, and not an essen- 

 tial part of the snare — seem to me to justify the conclusion that these 

 were not " communities," but simply accidental assemblages of individuals, 

 each one of which still maintained its solitary habit. Nevertheless, one 

 should express this opinion with some reservation in view of the possibili- 

 ties of Nature. 



The opinion here expressed is largely based on studies of l)roods both in 

 artificial sites and afield. I have often foimd small groups of the Laby- 

 rinth spider, which have been spoken of as " colonies," occupy- 

 p^^ ®^ ing one bush, and jDresenting an appearance in kind the same as, 

 but greatly less in degree, than the broods described by A^ara 

 and Darwin. I have seen snares of young Triaraneas hung along the 

 strips of a latticed chicken house, in great lunnbers and close contiguity, 

 more than forty of such webs ajipearing within a space of tifteen feet. 

 Another similar colony appeared in the latticed screen of a cottage kitchen 

 at Asbury Park, a section of which is given at Fig. 255. The rudimentary 

 nests appear in the angles ; and the tendency of the species, at the begin- 

 ning of life, to preserve the characteristic oi)en sector and free radius at 

 the top of the orb, is well shown, as also the disposition to vary the loca- 

 tion of the nest to right or left, according to convenience or whim. 



An old stone barn in the vicinity of Philadelphia has at times pre- 

 sented to me an apjiearance most interesting and beautiful, by reason of the 

 immense number of orbwebs spread over one of the gables, 

 ap- Placing ti^g face close to the wall so as to get the right reflec- 

 Barn ^^^^^ °^ lig^^t, I saw the whole surface of the building, from foun- 



dation to roof, covered with orbs as closely set as sj)ace would 

 well allow. Along the cornice of the roof they were especially massed 

 in manner not at all unlike the "comnuniity" of Azara. As the morning 

 light played upon the beaded spirals and white strands, or flashed in rain- 

 bow colors from gathered dewdrops, the whole showed a natural decoration 



