GENERAL COCOONING HABITS OF SPIDERS. 131 



these flies, which were determined by the eminent hymenopterist, Mr. Ezra 

 T. Cresson, to be Pezomachus meabilis Cresson. 



I collected cocoons somewhat similar to those of Limicunse near Alex- 



andria Bay, New York, on the St. Lawrence River. They were 



A Con- attached by very loose spinningwork to the under side of stones, 



g omera e j^ ^ e ex ^ erna ] cas6j instead of being mud, was a mass of ag- 



Ball glomerated particles of old wood, bark, leaves, blossoms, shells 



and wings of insects, etc., which were held together by a deli- 



cate weft of threads. (Figs. 153, 154, 157.) 



Two of these balls contained whitish cocoons similar to those in the 

 mud balls of Limicuna?. (Fig. 155.) Another had within it the charac- 

 teristic cases of some hymenopterous insect, containing dried pupa?. A 

 very thin veneering of soil immediately enclosed the silken egg pouch, 

 but otherwise no mud plaster was used. I did not succeed in hatching 

 spiders from the specimens, and could not therefore determine that these 

 cocoons were made by the same spider that constructs the mud balls of 

 Illinois, but I am inclined to think they were made by 

 the same or a closely related species. 1 



This habit of protecting cocoons with an armor of 

 mud and agglutinated rubbish of divers kinds, is widely 

 spread, and is, no doubt, quite cosmopolitan. It is pos- 



sessed by several of the European species. Teg- 



The Habit . ,- j i i i \, 



enana agrestis is found under rocks, in which 



" Kio. 157. Globular 



position the. mother attaches her large cocoon, cocoon of 



about half an inch in diameter, formed "of a triple or armored with 



, , , , ,, , . , . . . pings, soil, etc. X 2. 



quadruple envelope. The first are thin, white, containing 

 a layer of sand and the debris of insects agglutinated together, followed 

 by a third envelope of beautiful orange red, which contains a loose wad, 

 a little compacted where the eggs are. The mother makes several cocoons, 

 which she abandons and leaves isolated, or which she encloses under a 

 single web, fine and transparent. In France these cocoons are found in 

 July and August, chiefly in woods. 2 



The cocoon of Tegenaria emaciata, as described by Walckenaer, is formed 

 of a round mass larger than a good sized pea. This mass is composed of 

 soil agglutinated and mingled with the detritus of the bodies of small in- 

 sects, as beetles, ants, and others. In the midst of this mass of earth is 

 placed the cocoon, of a beautiful orange yellow color, but not perfectly 

 globular, having the shape of a little flask. 



The particles of earth which enclose this are held together by filaments 

 of silk, but are not enveloped by white silk, as is the case with Tegenaria 

 agrestis. The immediate envelope of the cocoon is a pellicle so compact 



1 McCook : "A Spider that makes a Spherical Mud Daub Cocoon." Proceed. Acad. Nat. 

 Sci., Philadelphia, 1884, page 151. 



2 Walckenaer, Apteres, Volume II., page 8. 



