Weavers and Spinners. 



spider travels with tireless energy, patiently carrying 

 up pellet after pellet of damp mud, and plastering them 

 on all over the cocoon. With the aid of her palps and 

 forefeet she carefully smooths and presses the earth 

 pellets into position, turning herself about from time 

 to time to wind a 

 few threads round 

 the earthy mass, the 

 better to secure it 

 and prevent its be- 

 ing washed away by 

 the rain. When her 

 task is finished, no 

 part of the glisten- 

 ing cocoon remains 

 visible ; it has, in 

 fact, been converted, 

 to all appearance, 

 into a little lump 

 of dried mud. 



There is a hand- 

 some relation of 

 our large Garden 

 Spider which, from 

 the bands of yel- 

 low, black, and silver 

 encircling her ample body, is known as the Banded 

 Spider, and is the weaver of a particularly beautiful 

 cocoon. In shape, the cocoon is something like a tiny 

 balloon, suspended upside down, and about the size 

 of a pigeon's egg. Its outer covering is formed of glis- 

 tening white silk, so closely woven as to resemble the 



Cocoon of Banded Spider. 



