76 FIELD AND FOREST. 



once only, it was bi ought to view by means of a twig thrust down 

 after it into the bottom of the nest. This the spider seized with its 

 jaws in a very savage manner, and held on long enough to be fairly 

 dragged out of the hole, instantly retreating, however, so that only a 

 brief opportunity was given for observations as to size, color, etc. 

 The experiment was repeated, but the spider always let go of the twig 

 as soon as it was brought to the top of the burrow. It was judged to 

 be about two inches long, and of a dark-brown color, the legs and 

 head, together with the jaws, (which were unusually large and strong,) 

 appearing quite black. 



The spider resembles so closely in habits, nest, etc., the trap-door 

 spider of the West Indies, that at first doubts were expressed as to its 

 having come from South Carolina, until Mr. Wever's second letter 

 was received, assuring us that such was the fact. 



The spider of the West Indies first digs a cylindrical burrow with 

 its jointed fangs and mandibles, from four to ten inches in depth, and 

 about one inch in diameter ; the bottom is rounded, and the top, 

 which is level with the surface of the earth, is closed by a circular lid, 

 continuous with the tube for about a third of its circumference, and 

 this part may be called the hinge. The mouth of the tube is com- 

 monly dilated a little, so as to form a slightly recurved brim or lip, 

 and the lid is sometimes a little convex internally, so as to fall more 

 accurately into the mouth and close it. Thus, we see that the two 

 nests agree very closely, and the singularity is that such a nest, or a 

 pair of them, should be found as far north as the State of South Caro- 

 lina, which makes it, in considering the subject of geographical dis- 

 tribution, of far greater value than a mere specimen of natural history. 



Chas. R. Dodge. 



A few words on Cocoons and Cocoon Builders. 



The word cocoon properly signifies, in its restricted sense, a case 

 or covering woven by the larv^a of an insect of a substance secreted in 

 its own body, which envelops and protects the larva during its subse- 

 quent changes into pupa and imago. In a broader sense it is with 

 less propriety applied to the egg-cases of spiders and to the hollows 

 lined with sawdust or grains of earth in which many beetles undergo 



