MATERNAL INSTINCTS: MOTHERHOOD. I'.C! 



Theridium studiosum, when its web is destroyed, does not abandon 

 the cocoon, which is orbicular and whitish and is placed in the mitral 

 part of the web. The mother then grasps it with her mandibles and de- 

 fends her progeny while life endures. Her maternal solicitude is not 

 limited to her cocoon, but she also takes care of her young, making a 

 tent for their shelter and remaining near them until they can prnte.-i 

 themselves. 1 



Toward the last of July the female Turret spider appears at the tup 

 of her tower with a cocoon of eggs, about as large as a ba/.el nut, at- 

 tached to the spinnerets. She exercises the greatest care over 

 Mo- her j^ cocoon Qn cool days she keeps it out of sight down in her 

 Spider. tubo ' wllich is about eight inches in depth, including the tower. 

 But when Mrs. Treat set the jar in the centre the mother spider 

 soon came up and put the cocoon in the sunshine. When the weather was 

 cool enough for fire in the room, if the jar were placed near the fire the 

 spicier placed her eggs on the side next the stove. If the jar were then 

 turned around, the mother presently moved the cocoon around to the warm 

 side, letting it hang outside of the walls of her tower. On the Oth of 

 October the young spiders were hatched, and at once perched upon the 

 mother's back, and even on her head and legs. She carried her cocoon 

 two months before the eggs hatched. 



The Lycosid Oxyopes viridans makes a conical cocoon having small 

 eminences, to which are attached the threads that hold it suspended firmly 

 in the air. After it is finished the mother watches it constantly, 

 ' never leaving its unprotected family. 2 Professor Hentz, speak- 

 ing of the general maternal instincts of the Lycosids, says that the mother 

 defends her progeny to the last, and her feet can be torn from her one 

 by one before she can be compelled to abandon her treasure. Thus can 

 maternal tenderness be exhibited in beings which are relentless to their 

 own species, and even to the sex which gives life to its progeny. 3 I must 

 say that my own experience gives no such examples of persistent devotion 

 under attempts to separate Lycosids from their cocoons. If the female of 

 Lycosa lenta be caught or wounded, the little ones escape rapidly in all 

 directions, but the mother is faithful to her duties and defends her progeny 

 while life endures. 4 



A female of Dolomedes albineus was captured by a child, who trans- 

 fixed her cephalothorax with a pin. The creature was placed in a glass 

 jar, and the wound, instead of proving mortal, healed rapidly. 

 After remaining inactive about three days, the spider made an 

 orbicular cocoon of light brown color, in which her eggs were 

 placed. She held it constantly grasped in her mandibles, and seemed in- 

 tent on watching it to the last; but the effort of cocooning once made, 



1 Hentz, id., page 106. 2 Id., page 4S. 3 Id, papi- L'.'I. 4 M., page 28. 



