THE SENSES AND TIIKIJi DIIUANS. 



297 



(iiiie wIk'ii, liavint;- ik'iio^iU'd the eggs witliiii the little eireular luilch, 

 she rolls the eover iirouiul tlieiii into a hall, and then attaches the hall 

 to her spinnerets. This is unilouljtedly the universal method with s|Mders 

 that carry ahdut their egg sacs. The cocoon covering is tirst sjiun ii|Min 

 some surface, the eggs enclosetl, the ball ])n'iiared, and the hist act is attach- 

 ing it to tlie spinnerets. 



Of course, during this [jrocess, a spider wliose eyesight is so good that 

 it can perceive its prey at a tlistance of several inches, nuist of necessity 

 liave seen its cocoon. It wovdd he impossible for us to reach any other 

 conclusion. The confusion in maternal rcc-ognition and selection of her 

 offspring cannot, therefore, be accounted for by defective sight. 



Among the Theridioid si)iders is a large group of species which Black- 

 wall has placed under the genus Walckenai'ra, which present some re- 

 raarkable peculiarities in the location of the eyes. These arc 

 Turrets 'li«t''>l'"ted on the anterior jjart of tlie cephalothorax, which 

 sometimes in females and usually in males is remarkably ele- 

 vated. The drawings here presented (Figs. 289-293) are taken from Black- 

 wall's descriptions of 

 \Va Ick ei laera acu i n ina- 

 ta,i and represent one 

 of the most remarkable 

 of these turret like de- 

 velopments of the ca- 

 put for the reception of 

 eyes.'-^ The length of 

 the female (Fig. 292) 

 is about one-seventh 

 of an inch. The sexes 

 are similar in color, but 

 the male (Fig. 289) is 

 smaller than the fe- 

 male, and the anterior 

 jtrominence of its ceijh- 

 alothorax is nuich more 

 elongated and slender, 

 measuring about one- 

 twentieth of an incli in 

 length. This eye tur- 

 ret is elevated vertical- 

 ly and dilated near the middle and at the a})ex (see Figs. 290, 291), the 

 latter dilatation being separated by a transverse groove into a superior and 

 inferior segment, both of which are rough, with short, strong hairs. On 



' Spiders Gt. Br. & Ir., pi. xx.. Fig. 203. 



^ See also Mr. E. Simon's Anirhiiiiles Je FraiKV, Vol. V., part III., page Su'O. 



n 



Walckenaera acuminata. 



Fig. 289. Male. Fiu. 290. Eye turret of male, greatly enlarged ; front 

 view. Fio. 291. Tlie same, side view. Pig. 292. Female. Fig. 293. 

 Same, side view of ceplialothorax, with outline showing natural size. 

 (After Blaekwall.) 



