102 



AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



the early spring, hanging intact iii)on the buslies where thej^ had been 

 placed, although, of course, the snare had entire!}' disai)peared. 



The Tailed spider, Cyclosa caudata, differs from Labyrinthea in the 



mode of hanging her string of egg sacs. Tliis is suspended within tlie 



limits of her orb, above the central space, along the line of the 



^^■, ^ |)cri)endicular. As the cocoons increase in number, the adiacent 



|->Q 11 (-1 Q +• O 1 J. 'J 



radii and the connecting sjiirals are cut out, leaving a clear seg- 

 ment resembling that in the snare of Zilla, in the middle of which the 

 cocoon string hangs. (Fig. 92.) The number of cocoons 

 appears to vary much ; I have usually found from three 

 to five ; Hentz never observed more than five. ^ They 

 are generally in shape a doul^le cone, although often 

 round or roundish, and are from three-sixteenths 

 to ([uarter of an inch (five to seven millimetres) 

 long and one-eighth inch (three millimetres) 

 wide. A cocoon is not composed of two dis- 

 tinct i)arts, like one of Labyrinthea's, but 

 is spun in a single piece of soft yellow- 

 ish tloss, externally close enough to be 

 weatherproof, but which ravels out 

 into woolly threads when picked 

 with a. needle. 



Within, the sac is filled alnni- 

 dantly with delicate, tiossy, yellow 

 silk, in which the eggs are de- 

 })osited. These vary in number ; 

 for example, three now before me, 

 opened in succession, contain, re- 

 spectively, twenty-two, two, and 

 ten ; certainly a remarkable differ- 

 ence. On one occasion a female 

 enclosed witliin a paper box l)egan 

 to make a cocoon, but jiroceeded 

 no furtlier than to weave a tiny 

 saucer, similar to tliat s])un by Ar- 

 giope ri2:)aria. This would, tlierc- 

 fore, api)ear to be the commencement of her cocoon, and it may be that 

 against such a disk Caudata haliitually deposits her eggs before enclosing 

 them. However, I have not found this within her cocoons, as is the case 

 with Argiope's, and conclude that the disk is made the basis of the external 

 sac, into which it is woven as the spider proceeds. The cocoons are often 

 well separated upon the string, but also are found touching and even over- 



FiG. 90. Labyrinthea's snare, viewed from behind, witli 

 two cocoons in site above the tubular nest. 



' Spiders United States," page 127. 



