MATERNAL INDUSTRY: COCOONS OP ORBWEAVERS. 95 



object. (Figs. 75, TH.) I have found Avliat I suppose to bo this cocoon, 

 suspeniled bj' four divci-ging lines within an open space, as, for example, 

 in the post hole of fences, as shown at Fig. 77. The cocoon varies some- 

 what in color, being usuallj' of a cream white tinted with green. Tlie silk 

 looks almost like wool. The exterior is covered with little i)oints or minute 

 projecting rolls, in this respect somewhat approximating the cocoon of 

 Uloborus. Within this exterior case are found the eggs, which are over- 

 spun by a slight flossy covering. 



The English sj^ecies forms its cocoon in June. It is described as round- 

 ish, less than one-fourth inch in diameter, fine and slightly woven; and 

 is either whitish with greenish tufts, or greenish with whitish 

 The Eu- tufts upon its surface. The cocoon is fixed to some object near 

 ^^ . the web, and contains pale yellow eggs.^ This corresponds sub- 



stantially with tlic account of Walckenaer, who describes the 

 threads of the interior as of a bluisli green color, but the exterior as a 

 little browner in hue, and presenting inequalities as of little globules pro- 

 duced by the eggs.^ Lister also describes the cocoon, which he frequently 

 found attached to the joints of twigs and to the leaves of plants.. Thus 

 it was nearly or c^uite the first example of spider cocooning to attract the 

 notice of naturalists. 



V. 



Most Orbweavers habitually make but one cocoon. There are some ex- 

 ceptions, however, among them two species very common in the United 



States, viz., the Labyrinth spider and the Tailed spider, which 

 Spiders distribute their eggs in several cocoons, as does also Ei^eira bi- 

 ^ furca of Florida. A rarer species having the same habit is the 



Cocoons Basilica spider ; Uloborus plumipes and Cyrtarachne complete the 



list of Orbweavers known to me to habitually construct a string 

 or cluster of egg sacs. These species represent groups having well defined 

 differences in structure and decided differences in the characteristics of 

 their snares. 



The genus Cyrtarachne is remarkable by the peculiar form of the body, 

 and is distributed cjuite extensively throughout the United States. There 



are probably two species, the Bisaccata of Emertou and Corni- 

 Cyrta- ^^^.^ ^f jjentz. The cocoon made by the two species is similar 

 rachne .^ general form, but there appears to be a marked difference in 

 'the mode of attachment. Moreover, Cornigera apparently spins 

 V)ut one cocoon, while Bisaccata, as its name implies, spins at least two ; 

 and I have had cocoon strings sent me from California by Mrs. Eigen- 

 mann containing three. Thus Emerton's specific name appears to be a 

 misnomer. I have a number of specimens; one collected by Dr. Marx 



1 Staveley, " British Spiders," page 208. ^ Aptures, A'ol. II., page 207. 



