MATERNAL INDUSTRY : COCOONS OF ORBWEAVERS. 



101 



in many cases (not all) becomes much rounded as the spiders grow. If 

 the cap be lifted up or pulled off, as may readily be done when the 

 young are nearly ready to emerge, a 

 ball of yellow silk will be found inside, 

 amidst which the eggs are originally 

 deposited, and in whose fibres the spi- 

 derlings burrow. The cocoons are in 

 number about five, more or less, and 

 each one contains about twelve to twen- 

 ty eggs, so that the aggregate number 

 of eggs is about equal to that found 

 in the single cocoons of some other 

 species. 



For the most part the cocoons over- 

 lay one another, the top of each projecting one- 

 third to one-half its length over its neighbor, as 

 shown at Fig. 89, i, front view ; ii, Ijack view. 

 They are held together chiefly by a band of loose 

 threads (o, ii) which are stretched along the back 

 parts of the cups, altliough at the points where the 



The 



Fig. 88. The 

 dish, a, and 

 cover, b, of 

 a Labyrinth 

 spider's co- 

 coon. 



Plfi. 87. 



Cocoon strings of Labyrinth cocoous Overlap they are also lightly attached. 



spider. (Natural size.) Fig. -, -, i • i ji ,i 



86. The manner of lashing band upou which the COCOOUS are thus strung IS 

 above. Fig. 87. The tiled fastened to a stroug, thick, branching white cord, 



position of the cocoons. , . , . , , , i i i 



which IS anchored above and below 

 to the network of cross lines. This cord is usually longest 

 above, deltated and often suspended upon a similar trans- 

 verse cord. (See Figs. 85, 86.) When the cocoons are 

 opened in October, the spiderlings are found fully de- 

 veloped, lively, and ready to escape. They resemble the 

 adult form in markings. 



The cocoons are sometimes separated from each other, 

 as at Fig. 86, but again are all overlaid, Fig. 87, being 

 lashed together by the band of threads upon which they 

 are strung. Occasionally, the spider will spin her tent 

 beneath the lowest cocoon of the series, instead of the 

 usual leaf or other debris, and will be found backed up 

 against the same, holding to the trapline of her snare. 

 (Fig. 90.) The full page cut (Fig. 85) shows Labyrin- 

 thea's cocoons strung in natural site, above and behind 

 the leaf-roofed tent. 



The mother begins to spin her cocoons in August, 

 adding one every week, or thereabouts, until the tale is complete. The 

 suspensory cords that support the cocoon string are strong, thick, and of a 

 pure white color. I have found numbers of the empty cocoon shells in 



Fig. 89. Two overlaid 

 cocoons of Labyrin- 

 thea, showing the 

 cord i, and ii, o, x, 

 upon which they are 

 strung. (Natural size) 



