Feb., 1916 Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 9 



thus : The female draws a thread from the middle of the web 

 and the male draws it back again. This they do many times until 

 they meet and unite back to back, this method of copulation suit- 

 ing them because of the size of their abdomens. They produce 

 small maggots which metamorphose into spiders, not from a part 

 but from the whole of the maggot, for they are round from the 

 first. When the female has produced her ova she incubates on 

 them, and in three days they acquire legs. All species produce 

 their young in a web, some kinds thin and small, others compact. 

 Some are entirely enclosed in a round receptacle, others only 

 partially covered by web. All the young are not produced simul- 

 taneously, but as soon as they are hatched each leaps out, exud- 

 ing a thread of its own. If bruised their contents is found to be 

 a thick white fluid like that of maggots. 



" The field spiders first of all deposit their ova in a web, one 

 end attached to their body and the other free, and they incubate 

 thereon, producing the young alive. The phalangia weave a 

 thick basket in which they lay their eggs and over which they 

 incubate. The smooth kinds produce a small number of off- 

 spring, the phalangia proper many. When grown the young 

 surround the parent, kill her and throw her out. They often 

 seize the male in the same way, when opportunity comes while he 

 is assisting the female in incubation. Sometimes there are as 

 many as 300 young in a single brood. They become full grown 

 in about four weeks. 



"There are many kinds of arachnia and phalangia, two of the 

 latter which bite. One is called psylla and resembles those 

 known as lykoi (wolves). It is small, variegated, pointed and an 

 active jumper. The other is black, larger and with long fore- 

 legs. It moves slowly and can scarcely walk, being neither strong 

 nor able to jump. 



" There is another group of those called wolves, one species of 

 which is small and makes no web. Another species is larger and 

 makes a coarse web of inferior quality on the ground or in 

 hedges. If on the ground it is over a chink in the soil with the 

 apex of its funnel extending downward. Here the spider keeps 

 guard, running out whenever something falls within reach. The 

 variegated kind makes a small inferior web in trees. There is a 



