GENERAL COCOONING HABITS OF SPIDERS. 



153 



Fig. 189. Cocoon of Huntsman spider, as clasped and carried 

 by the mother. (View from above.) 



flat circular plate which is attached to the ohject, rock, bark, or wood on 

 wliich the cocoon is spini ; and, second, a convex covering whicli fastens 

 above the eggs like a cap. Tlie 

 inside is lined with pure white 

 silk, Ijut the outsiiU' is often 

 of a grayish brown, and ap- 

 parentl}' is purposely soiled in 

 order to subdue the color. Usu- 

 ally there is no flossy pad- 

 ding for the eggs. I am not 

 sufficiently acquainted with co- 

 coons of this tribe to enter 

 largely into a coiuparison with 

 those of others, but the forms 

 known to me and above de- 

 scribed are probably typical, 

 and substantially represent the 

 maternal industry of the Laterigrades of the United States, and pi'oljaliiy 

 of the globe. 



The well known tropical species, Heterapoda venatoria, or the Hunts- 

 man spider, is one of the largest of the Laterigrade species, and may 

 l)roperly be classed with the spider fauna of the United States, 

 as I have specimens from Florida. It abounds in the West 

 Indies. The cocoon is a large double convex or piano convex 

 object, resembling those of Thomisus and other species when 

 woven against various surfaces. It appears, liowever, to be car- 

 ried b}' the mother; at least, one female preserved by me in a box wove 

 a cocoon of this sort which she carried in the manner represented at Fig 



189, wliich gives a view from 

 above, and Fig. 190 a view 

 from beneath. The button like 

 cocoon was put beneath the 

 body, which it almost entirely 

 covered ; at one end it appeared 

 to be attached to the spinner- 

 ets, and at the other was held 

 tightly by the outspread paliis. 

 The mother made an awkward 

 appearance as slie straddled 

 about the box, holding her 



Fig. 190. Cocoon of Huntsman spider, clasped by the mother. legS high Up aild OUtsprcad 

 (View from beneath.) ^^^^ j^^^. cumbersome COCOOU. 



If this be fairly representative of the prevailing habit of this widely 

 distributed species, we have among the Laterigrades also an example of 



The 

 Hunts- 

 man Het 

 erapoda. 



