The Spiders' Exodus I'-j^ 



things occur in the free sun-bath of the fields. 

 Unsheltered, among the bushes, the wallet of 

 the Banded Epeira, when the July heat arrives, 

 sphts under the effort of the inner air. The 

 delivery is effected by an explosion of the 

 dwelling. 



A very small part of the family are expelled 

 with the flow of tawny floss ; the vast majority 

 remain in the bag, which is ripped open, but still 

 bulges with eiderdown. Now that the breach 

 is made, any one can go out who pleases, in his 

 own good time, without hurrying. Besides, a 

 solemn action has to be performed before the 

 emigration. The animal must cast its skin ; 

 and the moult is an event that does not fall 

 on the same date for all. The evacuation of 

 the place, therefore, lasts several days. It is 

 effected in small squads, as the slough is flung 

 aside. 



Those who sally forth climb up the neigh- 

 bouring twigs and there, in the full heat of the 

 sun, proceed with the work of dissemination. 

 The method is the same as that which we saw 

 in the case of the Cross Spider. The spinnerets 

 abandon to the breeze a thread that floats, 



M 



