598 



AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



belonged to the Orb weavers. (See Fig. 336.) The natural size of the insect 

 is given within the circle at the side of the drawing. The insect may not 

 have been directly jmrasitic on the spider's eggs, but on the larvte of 

 Pezomachus or some other spider parasite. 



The above examples are sufficiently representative, and they indicate the 

 mode in which the HymenoiJtera wage war upon the Aranea^. As to the 

 extent of that war I may simply say that I find a large proper- 

 Extent ^JQj-^ q£ Epeiroid cocoons infested by parasites. In going among 

 ° .^.^^' the old cocoons in the spring it is often more usual to find them 

 occupied by cocoons of Pezomachus than full of healthy eggs. 

 Of five large egg nests of Ej^eira cinerea now before me, not one is free 

 from i)arasitic cocoons. Often the spider brood will be in part preserved; 

 frequently tlie iiarasites have full possession ; and, again, the traces of 

 a full and healthy brood are shown by the shells or first moults within 



the central bag. Of course the ratio 

 of destruction varies at different times 

 and places. 



There appears to be no special 

 proclivity on the part of parasitic hy- 

 menopters to confine their operations 

 to any species of spider. They appear 

 to choose their host indiscriminately 

 from among the cocoons in which the 

 eggs are swathed. Pezomachus gra- 

 cilis will attack the hard, stiff, and 

 compact cocoon case of Argiope cophinaria, or will choose as a host the 

 eggs of a species of Epeira, or indeed of other tribes. 



This point needs further investigation, and would be a matter of some 

 importance to solve with absolute certainty. It would greatly add to our 

 respect for the discriminating powers of these strange insects if 

 Parasite ^.^ ^.gj.g ^^ establish the fact that they can select a spider's eggs 

 even when they are hidden nway under protecting cases so widely 

 differing in appearance, construction, and location. The question 

 would then rise, in what manner do the ichneumons determine the pres- 

 ence of the eggs ? Do they watch the spiders themselves ? Are they able 

 to detect the presence of spiders' eggs through the enclosing enswathment 

 by some sense so delicate that it cannot be appreciated by human beings ? 

 The wingless conditioii of the females doubtless greatly favors them in their 

 search for objects hidden away as spider's cocoons commonly are. 



Fig. 337. Parasitized cocoon of Epeira cinerea, 

 opened to sliow the infesting iclineumon cocoons. 



VIII. 



These are not all the hostile agents arrayed against the embryo life of 

 spiders. Parasitic plants as well as parasitic insects assail them, for not 



