SOCIAL HABITS OF SPIDEUS. 



tries of the social Ilymenoptera, and the use of the word "social" in 

 this restricted sense is deceptive. 



XI. 



The element of sociability appears to be much more highly developed 

 with a Liuoweaver which Mr. Simon describes as Anelosimus socialis, a 



species belong- 

 Social j to the fam . 

 Tneridi- ., rp] . ,.. , 

 oids. "7 riiendndse. 



Many liundrcds, 

 perliaps thousiiiids of this 

 species spin a common 

 web, soft and transparent, 

 but of a compact tissue 

 analogous to that woven 

 by Agalena. This snare 

 is of indeterminate form, 

 and sometimes attains im- 

 mense dimensions, even 

 enveloping an entire coffee 

 tree. At first sight it ap- 

 pears more like the spin- 

 ningwork of sociable cat- 

 erpillars than of spiders. 

 When one opens the ex- 

 terior envelope he sees 

 that the interior is divided 

 by silken partitions into 

 irregular lodges ; within 

 these the spiders freely 

 move about, and upon 

 meeting touch one another, 

 as do ants, with their an- 

 tennae, and sometimes a 

 number of them will be 

 seen feeding upon the 

 same prey. The cocoons 



are rounded, formed of flocculent wadding of an iron gray color, are with- 

 out pedicles, and are fixed to the common web by threads which form a 

 soft net. 



Upon this statement and the figure of M. Simon, which I reproduce in 

 Fig. 35, I remark that the phenomenon is explicable by the ordinary habits 

 of young spiders. This I have fully illustrated in Section V., Chapter 

 VIII., Vol. II. Such an assemblage as there shown (Fig. 251) differs 



FIG. 85. 



Fia. 36. 



Flo. 36. Common leafy tent of Anelosimus socialis. 

 Flo. 36. Cocoons of same. (After Simon.) 



