432 



AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



soil penetrated by a well rounded pipe, whose walls are protected by the 



outer bark of a root. Only that remains. All the rest has per- 



Other ished, leaving a long tube in the earth wherever the root had 



run. Here many spiders have found winter refuge, and from 



the mouth of one of these natural dens a full grown specimen 



of Tegenaria medicinalis is unearthed. 



Young spiders survive the winter in the admirably arranged cocoons pro- 

 vided by the maternal instinct. But early in spring many adults of both 

 sexes are found nearly full grown, that have also safely weathered 

 Winter ^ e co ^ mon ths. I have at various times in the winter col- 

 Leaves l ec t e d Epeira strix, and have found the species adult in spring. 

 Specimens of Strix may be frequently taken during winter 

 months from rolled leaves within which they have withstood our hard 

 frosts. These rolled leaves also serve for nests during summer. Dr. George 

 Marx has informed me that on the capacious Government grounds in 



Washington City he often sees 

 such curled leaves suspended, 

 conspicuous amid the verdure- 

 less branches, and has learned 

 to recognize them easily as the 

 winter quarters of this species. 

 It of course follows that, either 

 from purpose or by the acci- 

 dental enwrapping of threads 

 during continual journeys back 



and forth, trailing her dragline behind her, she secures the leaf from falling. 

 A vast colony of Epeira sclopetaria inhabits the boat houses grouped 

 around the inlet at Atlantic City. 1 I visited this colony in the latter part 

 of May (1882), when the season had been remarkably backward, cold, and 

 rainy. The trees on the island had not yet leaved ; insect life had 

 scarcely appeared ; in short, the season had advanced little further than 

 the first of May in ordinary years. The inlet colony, however, had already 

 appeared in large numbers, and had swung their orbs between the timbers 

 of the houses and the piles which supported them. These were of various 

 sizes, full grown, half grown, and young several weeks out of the cocoon. 

 All the cocoons, which were thickly laid along the angles of the joists and 

 cornices, were empty. The number of young spiders was, however, remark- 

 ably small, a fact which I could account for only on the supposition that 

 in the absence of the usual insect food supply the adults had been 

 driven to prey upon the young, and the young upon each other to an un- 

 usual degree. 



Many of these spiders were hanging in the centre of their round snares. 



FIG. 365. Arched shelter tent for winter service. 



1 See page 232 and Fig. 256. 



