MATERNAL INDUSTRY: COCOONS OF ORBWEAVERS. 



91 



FIG. 68. Cocoon of Epeira thaddeus, swung upon a line. 



tough silken tent, and this appeared to belong to the spider, who, moreover, 



looked as though she might soon make another cocoon. The question was 



started, but was not solved, does Triaranea weave more than one cocoon? 



The cocoon was a little flossy 



ball, flattened, of course, on 



the side attached to the rock. 



I captured one of the fe a 



males, which cocooned in a 



box, thus showing that the 



cocoons above described were 



those of this species. 



A cocoon of Epeira thad- 

 deus was sent to me from 

 Vineland, by Mrs. Mary 

 Treat. It had been spun upon some potted ferns within her lodgings. It 

 is a subglobose sac, of a delicate pearl gray color, one-fourth 

 Epeira j ^ / - x m inimetres) in diameter. It is attached at the top to 



T rl L O_ d 6 ITS 



' a strip of silk ribbon, or rather it widens out at the top into 

 two triangular points, by which it is fastened upon a cord stretched between 

 two sprigs of fern. The egg ball thus swings free. (Fig. 68.) 



I have secured cocoons of this species, by confinement within the trying 

 box, which differ from the above. They are globular or subglobular masses 

 of flossy yellow silk, about three-eighths of an inch in diameter. I believe 

 that, ordinarily, Thaddeus will be found to weave a cocoon of this sort upon 

 a leaf or other surface, probably enclosing it- within a curled leaf, or over- 

 spinning it in the manner of Epeira triaranea. 



I have not been fortunate enough to identify the cocoons of our common 

 Zillas; but a species which I observed in Florida made a cocoon shown 



at Fig. 69, top of the cut. It was a flossy 

 ball, about three-eighths of an inch thick, 

 and was woven within the silken tent 

 which formed the spider's domicile. It 

 was placed in the top of the tent, and 

 against the twigs, which formed a sort 

 of framework for it. After the cocooa 

 had been made the spider shifted her 

 domicile to a lower point, and gradually 

 spun a new dome shaped tent just be- 

 neath her cocoon, within which she co n- 

 tinued to dwell. 



The cocoon of Nephila wilderi, accord- 

 ing to Professor Burt Wilder, 1 is a large flossy hemisphere of silk, which is 

 usually spun upwards against a leaf or similar surface. The spinning-work 



1 Trans. Am. Assoc. Advanc. Sci., 1873, page 263. 



FIG. 69. Cocoon (top of figure) and tent 

 of a Florida Zilla. 



