PROWLING SPIDERS ; CLOTHO. SEDENTARY SPIDERS. 227 



alone fixed to the stone by means of threads, whilst the edges 

 are left free. This singular tent is at first composed of only 

 two folds, between which the Spider takes its station. But 

 subsequently it adds additional folds ; and when the period of 

 reproduction arrives, it weaves another apartment, of a softer 

 texture, expressly for the reception of the sacs of eggs, and of 

 the young when hatched. The inside of its habitation is 

 singularly clean. The bags in which the eggs are placed, are 

 about one-third of an inch in diameter ; and there are from four 

 to six of them in each habitation. The eggs are not deposited 

 until the end of December or January ; and they are enveloped 

 in fine down, to guard them from the cold. The parent creeps 

 in and out beneath the edges of the festoons ; and supplies her 

 young with food, for some time after they are hatched. When 

 they are able to dispense with maternal cares, they quit their 

 common habitation, and form separate abodes; and the parent 

 dies within her tent. 



829. The next family, SEDENTES, or Sedentary Spiders, con- 

 tains all those species with which we are most familiar, from the 

 annoyance they cause us by the construction of their webs in our 

 houses and gardens. Of the first tribe, TAPITEL.E. which con- 

 struct a sort of tapestried web of close texture, within which they 

 dwell and wait for their prey, the common House-spider is a 

 characteristic example (Fig. 549). The Spiders of the second 

 tribe, ORBITEL^E, have the abdomen larger, softer, and more 

 coloured than the preceding ; they make their webs with regular 

 meshes ; arranged in concentric circles crossed by straight radii ; 

 and they usually remain stationary in the centre, in a reversed 

 position (Fig. 550). Many species, however, construct for 

 themselves a cavity or cell, which is sometimes horizontal and 

 sometimes perpendicular, near the edges of the net. Of this 

 group, the genus Epeira is the principal ; of which several 

 species abound in our gardens, especially during the autumn. The 

 eggs are deposited by the parent at the commencement of cold 

 weather, in angles of the ceilings of rooms, passages, &c., near 

 gardens ; they are enveloped in a loose white web ; and are 

 hatched in the spring of the following year. Some species of 



