38 



AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



had been collected by him after construction, I can hardly forbear the 

 feeling that even this structure may be accounted for on the same prin- 

 ciple as above, without bringing to bear upon it the theory of a social 

 community. It is a most interesting point which can only be elucidated 

 by future observation. 



Simon does indeed say that the incubating chamber, with its included 

 ten cocoons, has five or six females who have assumed the duties of mater- 

 nity. Did he observe these in the joint act of constructing the case? If 

 not, did he reach this conclusion by finding the dead bodies of several 

 females enclosed within the chamber along with their cocoons? If he 

 did not observe the actual construction of the outer case, his inference 

 that the enclosed cocoons must have been the work of several females 

 could only have come from the fact that five or six adult females were 

 found inside. In the absence of this definite information one is perhaps 

 justified in suspecting that the cocoons, as described, may have been en- 

 closed by one mother. 



The number is indeed large as compared with that produced by the 

 ordinary Orb weaver, but by no means peculiar ; for, as I have shown, 1 

 Cyclosa bifurca produces as many as thirteen cocoons, which are 

 Mothers b oun( j together by a flossy string. The Basilica spider 2 encloses 

 five cocoons within an exterior case of like tissue, which she 

 spins above her snare. Theridium serpentinum 3 will produce as 

 many as eight cocoons, which are assembled close to one another 

 at the top of her meshed net, and enclosed within thickened walls of spin- 

 ningwork. Yet more striking, perhaps, is the cocoon string of Segestria 

 canities, 4 which contains as many as twelve cocoons overlapping one another 

 like the tiles upon a roof, and overlaid with a thick sheet of spinningwork, 

 which is further protected by a rude thatch of leaves collected from the 

 bush upon which it hangs. Ths spider's tubular home is woven at one 

 side of her treasures, and the whole is surrounded by an external maze of 

 network supported upon the branches of adjoining shrubbery. These cases 

 at least demonstrate that the example of spinningwork described by M. 

 Simon might have been the product of one mother's industry. 



Whatever may be the truth as to the above point, these two facts are 

 clear, viz., first, that the exhibition of sociability, if Simon's view be ac- 

 cepted, is limited to a few hours, or at most days. It is an inci- 

 dental characteristic, and does not entitle the species to be called 

 social any more than the fraternal communism of young spiders 

 during the first few days after issuing from the egg. Second, even if the 

 incubating chamber of Epeira bandelieri be the product of joint labor, the 

 fact is only faintly comparable to the highly organized communal indus- 





coons. 



sions. 



1 Vol. II., page 103, Fig. 96. 



2 Ibid., page 105, Figs. 98, 99. 



3 Ibid., page 112, Fig. 108. 



4 Ibid., page 136, Figs. 165, 100. 



