GENERAL COCOONING HABITS OF SPIDKRS. l.'Jl 



these flies, which were determined by the eminent liyiiienopterist, Mr. P^zru 

 T. Cresson, to be Pezomachus meabilis Cresson. 



I collected cocoons somewhat similar to those of Limieuntu near Alex- 

 andria Bay, New York, on the St. Lawrence River. They were 

 A Con- jittaehcd Ijy very loose spinningwork to the under side of stones, 



?, t)ut the external case, instead of being mud, was a mass of ag- 



Cocoon , in ) & 



Ball. glomerated jiarticles of old wood, bark, leaves, blossoms, shells 



and wings of insects, etc., which were held together by a deli- 

 cate weft of threads. (Figs. 153, 154, 157.) 



Two of these balls contained whitish cocoons similar to those in the 

 mud balls of Limicunie. (Fig. 155.) Another had within it the charac- 

 teristic cases of some hymenoj)terous insect, containing dried pupa;. A 

 very thin veneering of soil immediately enclosed the silken egg pouch, 

 but iitherwise no mud plaster was used. I did not succeed in hatching 

 spiders from the specimens, and could not therefore determine that these 

 cocoons M-ere made by the same spider that constructs the mud balls of 

 Illinois, but I am inclined to think they were made b}- 

 the same or a closely related species.' 



This habit of protecting cocoons with an armor of 

 mud and agglutiniited rubbish of divers kinds, is widely 

 spread, and is, no doubt, c|uite cosmopolitan. It is pos- 

 sessed by several of the European species. Teg- 

 ^ fi f ^ enaria agrestis is found under rocks, in which 



Catholic. .,• ^1 ,, ,,1 1 1 I- 1". 157. Olobular 



position the mother attaches her large cocoon, cocoon of Micaria, 

 about half an inch in diameter, formed of a triple or armored with chip- 

 quadruple envelope. The first are thin, white, containing 

 a layer of sand and the debris of insects agglutinated together, followed 

 by a third envelope of beautiful orange red, which contains a loose wad, 

 a little compacted where the eggs are. The mother makes several cocoons, 

 which she abandons and leaves isolated, or which she encloses umler a 

 single web, fine and transparent. In France these cocoons are found in 

 July and Augvist, chiefly in woods. - 



The cocoon of Tegenaria emaciata, as described by Walckenaer, is formed 

 of a round mass larger tlian a good sized pea. This mass is composed of 

 soil agglutinated and mingled with the detritus of the bodies of small in- 

 sects, as beetles, ants, and others. In the midst of this mass of earth is 

 placed the cocoon, of a beautiful orange yellow color, Init not perfectly 

 globular, having the shape of a little flask. 



The particles of earth which enclose this are held together by filaments 

 of silk, but are not enveloped by white silk, as is the case with Tegenaria 

 agrestis. The immediate envelope of the cocoon is a pellicle so compact 



' Mi-Cook: "A Spider that makes a Splierical yUii] I>aul) Cocoon." Proceed. Acad. Nat. 

 Sci., Philadelphia, 1SS4, page lol. 



^ Walckenaer, Apteres, A'olnnic II., page S. 



