HABITS OF YOUNG SPIDERS 



341 



The Lycosidae, or AVolf- spiders, which chase their prey instead 

 of lying quietly in ambush to ensnare it, are exceedingly interest- 

 ing in their treatment of their 

 young. The cocoon, or bag of 

 eggs, is carried about on all 

 their expeditions, attached be- 

 neath the abdomen, or held by 

 the jaws, and the young spiders, 

 on escaping from it, mount on 

 the mother's back, and indulge 

 Yieariously in the pleasures of 

 the chase from this point of 

 vantage. The empty egg-bag 

 is soon discarded, but the brood 

 continues to ride on the mother's 

 back for about a week, dis- 

 mounting only to follow her as 

 she enters her little silk-lined 

 retreat in the ground. 



During this time they appear 

 to require no food, but they at 

 length begin to disperse, the 

 mother gently but firmly re- 

 moving such individuals as are disposed to trespass upon her 

 maternal solicitude longer than she considers desirable. 



Many young spiders of various Families proceed immediately 

 to seek new hunting-grounds by the aid of the wind, and become 

 for the time being diminutive aeronauts. This habit was observed 

 by the earliest British araneologist, Martin Lister,'' as long ago 

 as 1670, and has been alluded to by many writers since, his 

 time. 



The topmost bar of an iron railing in spring or early autumn 

 will generally be found peopled with minute spiders, and if the 

 day be fair and the wind light, the patient observer may be 

 rewarded by a curious and interesting sight. 



The spider seeks the highest spot available, faces the wind, 

 and straightens its legs and body, standing, so to speak, upon its 

 toes, its abdomen with its spinning tubes being elevated as much 

 as possible. Streamers of silk presently appear from the spin- 



^ Correspondence of John Ray, p. 77. 



Fig. 188. — A, Pardosa sp. ?, with j'ouiig 

 on the abdomen ; B, young Pardosa 

 detached ; C, outline of the Spider 

 witli young removed. {From the living 

 specimen. ) 



