186 



THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



The Queen of Spinners. 



By Heber a. Longmax. 



(Director, Queensland Museum. 



THE large and handsome spider 

 known as Dicrostichus magnificus , 

 or, to give it a popular name, the 

 ''Magnificent Spider," may well be called 

 the Queen of Spinners. The body of 

 this spider is cream-coloured above, with 

 darker vermieulations and two pro- 

 minent yellow tubercles, and near the 

 front is a mosaic of fourteen salmon- 

 pink spots. On the head is a dainty 

 little turret, wine-coloured, with an ala- 

 baster base, and this supports two pairs 

 of eyes. 



I'his spider is not very rare in Bris- 

 bane gardens, but its discoverv is usual- 



The Magnificent Spider (Dicrostichus magnificus). Natui 

 size. 



Plioto. — H. Hacker. 



ly due to the presence of its large 

 cocoons or egg-bags. These may oc- 

 casionally be found on the under side of 

 leaves of large palms. In tlie daytime 

 tlie sjiider hides in a cleverly-woven 

 little retreat, in which it stays with its 

 head turned away from the opening. 

 The cocoons vary from three to four 

 inches in length, and are about an inch 

 in maximum diameter. Each contains 

 an inner cocoon, which hangs centrally 

 in the upper half of the outer envelope; 

 it is white in colour and the texture may 

 be compared to fine ric«-paper. Within 

 there is a quantity of loose silk suri'ound- 

 ing the eggs. From four 

 hundred to six hundred eggs 

 may be present, and as each 

 spider makes on an average 

 six cocoons, about three thou- 

 sand eggs may be laid in a 

 season. Between the outer 

 envelope and the inner co- 

 coon there is a loose packing 

 of silk, which forms a valu- 

 able elastic medium, protect- 

 ing the precious freight of 

 eggs. 



As a result of pei-sistent 

 watching, my wife and I have 

 repeatedly seen the whole 

 process of cocoon making by 

 these spiders in our garden. 

 The completion of a single 

 cocoon may take from eight 

 o'clock at night until four 

 the next morning. First the 

 spider slowly spins a strong 

 vertical strand by letting 

 herself down from her lines 

 near the retreat. Then a tiny 

 sheet of web is spun out fron^ 

 the end of this strand. After 

 half-an-hour's work this may 

 be seen as a filmy cloud over 

 the spider's back, to which 

 she, ever spinning, adds to 

 the circi;mference. Then 



