THE GENESIS OF SNARES. 



347 



and Tubeweavers. The same is true of the Saltrgrades, who persistently 

 live in tubes ; of the Laterigrades, who occasionaly form them ; and of the 

 Citigrades and Tunnelweavers, who make silk lined 

 tubular burrows in the ground. 



Among the causes that would lead directly from a 

 simple lineweaving to a tubeweaving habit are the ma- 

 ternal function and instinct. The mother seeks retire- 

 ment when the time of ovipositing draws near. 

 Beneath some ledge, or leaf, or stone, or twig, 



., or other convenient shelter, she takes refuge, 



and there remains until the last act of ma- 

 ternal care. The very continuance in one place would 

 naturally lead to the formation of a rudimentary nest 

 in the manner just explained. The mother's prompt- 

 ings to protect her progeny by overspinning the eggs 

 would lead almost inevitably, in many cases, to her- _, 



" ' J ' FIG. 338. The cocoomng nest 



self sharing the provided shelter, or extending or of a Laterigrade spider, 

 adapting it for her own benefit. 



How natural is such a step appears from the fact that such spiders as 

 the Laterigrades, that never (or but rarely* use any sort of snare or shelter, 

 resort to a tubular cell for the protection of their eggs 

 and young, and dwell within it themselves during the 

 hatching season. (Fig. 338.) So, also, Ly- 

 Lateri- cosids, which habitually wander in the open 

 , in pursuit of prey, when the time for co- 



Lycosids. cooning comes make a burrow or nest in 

 the ground or beneath a rock, which they 

 silk line and use as a domicile. Thus, also, Dolo- 

 medes, which is persistently nestless and webless in 

 ordinary habits, is drawn by maternal instincts to spin 

 among the leaves, or in like situation, one of the 

 most complete nests that can be found in the whole 

 range of aranead spinningwork. 



Having thus pursued the line of analogy from 

 the Lineweaving to the Tubeweaving species, we may 

 return upon our course for a moment to 

 Analogy trace the analogies between the Lineweaving 

 Between an( j Qrbweaving species. Already, in a pre- 

 w^ayers cedin S cha P ter (Chapter VIII.), I have fully 

 and Orb- illustrated the peculiar habit of certain Orb- 

 Fio.339. The cocoomng nest weavers weavers to combine with their typical or- 



of Dolomedes sexpunctatns. ' . , . 



bicular snare the typical retitelanan snare 



of the Line weavers. Conspicuous examples of this are Epeira labyrin- 

 thea, Epeira triaranea, and most of the species belonging to the genus 



