IUVW U.UUM 



SPIDERS VS. COTTON- WORMS. 163 



spiders (Attides) destroy many young larvae and occasionally are able to 

 capture a moth. 



Mr. Trelease says:* "One day in July I saw a small jnmping-spider 

 leap upon a half grown larva, which it killed and sucked the juices from." 

 This spider proved to be a specimen of Attus nubilus and 

 was only a trifle over one-sixth of an inch in length (4 min ). 

 As a characteristic jumping spider we figure it. (See Fig. 6.) 

 In color the thorax is dark brown and the abdomen is very 

 light with markings of brown. These jumpers never lose a 

 chance to catch a moth when they are able, as is evinced 

 by the following extract, also from Mr. Trelease's report: 1 -, 



About twilight of August 27, while watching numbers of moths en- F 6 _ Afc 

 gaged in eating rotting peaches on the ground, I heard a rather loud ^ us ' nu bii us 

 rustling among them, and several took flight from the point where the 

 noise was heard. Going to the spot I found that a large ground-spider had captured 

 one of the moths, which was beating its wings in futile efforts to escape. Owing to 

 the darkness, the spider was allowed to escape, so that I did not determine the species. 



The large nesting spiders (Epeirides), of which the commonest species 

 through the Southern cotton-fields is Aryiope riparia (Epeira riparia of 

 older authors), catch the moths in their webs. 



A common and doubtless a beneficial species which I observed upon 

 the cotton-plant in Alabama is 

 a large pale-green spider, with 

 long spiny legs (Oxyopes mri- 

 dans). (See Fig. 7.) 



Clubiona pollens was found 

 nesting in cotton quite abund- 

 antly. They fold the cotton 

 leaves in much the same manner 

 as do the cotton-worms, forming 

 thereby a sort of basket, in which 

 they deposit their eggs. They 

 may at once be distinguished 

 from the Aletia web by the white- 

 ness of the silk of the former. FlG - 7.-Oxyo P es viridans. 



Among the smaller species which have been noticed upon the plant 

 among the young worms may be mentioned Attus fasciatus, Theridium 

 globosum, Theridium funebre, Epeira stellata, Sinyphia communis, Tethra- 

 gnata extensa, Metlia sp., and Xysticus spj 



Of the true insects that prey upon the eggs, larvae, or adult of Aletia 

 argillacea, some 35 species have been observed by the correspondents 

 and observers of the department. Of these we shall speak in their 

 regular scientific order, beginning with those belonging to the XEUROP- 



* Appendix I, report of William Trelease. 



tThe determinations of the spiders mentioned in this report were made by Mr. 

 George Marx, of this department. 



