COCOONS CONSTRUCTED BY SPIDERS. ijf) 



spherical, and about forty or fifty in number, she closes the 

 mouth of the cocoon and proceeds to daub it all over with 

 mud. The moistened earth clings tightly to the silken cocoon, 

 and disguises it so effectually that no one who had not seen it 

 before that operation, could conceive how beautiful it had 

 once been. The muddy cover makes the cocoon less visible, 

 and may probably have another effect, that of protecting the 

 inclosed eggs and young from the attacks of insects that feed 

 upon spiders. Several other species have the habit of daubing 

 their beautiful cocoons with mud. 



This species is plentiful in Bostal Common and Bexley 

 Heath in Kent, the profuse growth of gorse being very suitable 

 to its mode of life, and I have several specimens of their nests 

 taken from Shooter's Hill. June is the best month for them, 

 as they may be found both before and after the mud has been 

 applied. 



An allied species, Agelena labyrinthica^ is equally plentiful in 

 similar localities, where its curious webs may be seen stretched 

 in horizontal sheets over the gorse, and having attached to each 

 web a cylindrical tube, at the end of which sits the spider itself. 

 Heath and common grass are also frequented by this spider. 



Besides the net or web in which it lives, and by means of 

 which it catches prey, it makes a beautiful cocoon in which the 

 eggs are placed. Externally the cocoon looks like a simple 

 silken bag, perfectly white in colour, and, except in size, some- 

 what resembling that of the preceding species. It is only 

 when quite freshly made, that the white hue of the cocoon is 

 visible ; for after its completion, it is covered with scraps of 

 dry leaves, bark, earth, and other substances. Jf, however, 

 this cocoon be opened, it is found to contain at least another 

 cocoon within, and often comprises two, of a saucer-like shape, 

 and made also of white silk. These inner cocoons are nearly 

 half an inch in diameter, and contain a very variable quantity 

 of pale yellow, spherical eggs, sometimes fifty in number, but 

 often exceeding a hundred. The inner cocoons are firmly tied 

 by strong lines to the interior of the large sac in which they 

 are inclosed 



