436 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



of the feet. In less than ten minutes, upon being touched, she stretched 

 forth her legs and began to move slowly over the paper upon which she 

 had been placed. When touched, her motion was much accelerated, and 

 she began vigorously to perambulate her bounds, meanwhile anchored to 

 and pulling out after her the usual dragline. When lifted up on the tip 

 of a pencil, she spun out a long thread, to the end of which she hung in 

 the little foot basket of silken cords which I have elsewhere described. 

 Indeed, her action was in every respect normal, and showed a remarkable, 

 sudden, and complete renewal of activity after so long an exposure to such 

 extreme cold. 



February 26th, a younger specimen, about one-third grown, hanging 

 in a crevice in the site above described, when touched and lightly pressed 

 down, slowly moved its legs and began to struggle back to its perch. The 

 thermometer ranged from 20 to 25 above zero ; on the day before the 

 range was from 21 at 7 A. M. to 28 at 11 A. M. During the six weeks 

 over which these observations extended the temperature was unusually low 

 for this vicinity ; for a great part of the time the thermometer stood below 

 zero. The month of March following was unusually severe, the thermom- 

 eter frequently reaching winter temperature. On the 1st of April, how- 

 ever, the above named spiders and others of a younger brood were in their 

 webs, hale and active, having been drawn out by the first soft days of 

 spring. It would seem, therefore, first, that the hibernation of 

 spiders, of this species at least, is not accompanied with a great 

 degree of torpidity ; second, that they preserve their activity and 

 spinning habit while exposed to cold ranging from freezing point to zero 

 (Fahrenheit) ; third, that after long and severe exposure the recovery of 

 complete activity, when brought into a warm temperature, is very rapid, 

 almost immediate; and, fourth, that on the return of spring, even after a 

 prolonged and severe winter, they at once resume the habits of their 

 kind. The above experiments were made upon Theridioids, but I have 

 made like trials with other species, as Epeira strix, Dictyna philoteichous, 

 and Eurypelma hentzii, and the results vary in no essential particular. 



In all the above specimens the abdomens were full, indicating perfect 

 health. Other spiders hung upon their webs with shriveled abdomens, 

 quite dead, among them one of my specimens, a male who died during 

 the course of observations. A Pholcus phalangioides hung thus dried up, 

 holding with a death grip to her web by the two fore pairs of legs, which 

 supported the cephalothorax in a position parallel to the plane of the 

 horizon, while the long abdomen hung down at right angles thereto, and 

 the third and fourth pairs of legs were drooped downward and backward. 

 I could only conjecture that this and other spiders perished by the cold. 

 The living individuals were all characterized by the plump abdomen, as 

 though there had been little or no absorption of tissues for nourishment 

 of life. There appeared to be no growth during hibernation. . 



