THE HOUSE SPIDETl 185 



To begin with she spins a cone-shaped base which hangs cap- 

 like suspended by several threads of silk from the web (see fig- 

 ure 33). After this is done the female, hanging bj^ her front 

 legs and grasping the sides of this cone-shaped base with the 

 third and fourth pairs of legs, slowly forces out of the vulva 

 the egg mass. The egg-s emerge ensheathed by a filuiy mem- 

 brane and slightly stuck together. When they are all out they 

 make a mass globular in shape, which is pressed into the cone- 

 shaped base (figure 34). As this is being done the edges ol this 

 caplike base of silk are pulled around the egg mass so as to hold 

 the latter temporarily in position. Now the sheath of the egg 

 mass is snipped off, and the female rapidly spins new strands of 

 silk so as to complete the oval of the cocoon. At this stage the 

 cocoon is very flimsy, and the egg mass shows plainly through 

 its walls. Next the female spins silk back and forth around the 

 cocoon to give it thickness. While she does this she hangs from 

 the web by the first pair of legs, rotates the cocoon with the sec- 

 ond and third pairs of legs, and applies the silk, as all spiders 

 do, with the hind legs ; or she may modify this process somewhat 

 by hanging by the first and second pairs of legs, rotating the 

 •cocoon with the third pair and applying the silk with the last 

 pair. Never has the writer found the female hanging by one 

 leg while spinning her cocoon as described and figured by Mc- 

 Cook. When the cocoon is rotated it is not turned continually 

 one way, but the movement is frequently reversed. While lay- 

 ing on the silk and after it is laid on the female works it down 

 making it more compact (see figure 35). This is done chiefly 

 by the aid of the' chelicerte according to the writer's obseiTations, 

 although McCook states that the tip of the abdomen is used for 

 this purpose. 



During the process of building the cocoon the female works 

 very rapidly. The cone-shaped base is laid down in a few min- 

 utes. The eggs were deposited in three and one-third minutes 

 according to the observer's watch. The thickening of the cocoon 

 walls takes the most time. The whole cocooning process as it 

 was observed from beginning to end took approximately one 

 hour. 



The contents of the cocoon after it is spun vary according to 

 its age, and other conditions. One of the cocoons was opened 

 by the writer just as the young spiders began to emerge and 



