Bort HABITS OF SPIDERS. 39 
tries of the social Hymenoptera, and the use of the word “ social” in 
this restricted sense is deceptive. 
XI. 
The element of sociability appears to be much more highly developed 
with a Lineweaver which Mr. Simon describes as Anelosimus socialis, a 
3 species belong- 
Social | ing to the fam- 
Theridi- . i ss 
eile: ily Theridiide. 
Many hundreds, 
perhaps thousands of this 
species spin a common 
web, soft and transparent, 
but of a compact tissue 
analogous to that woven 
by Agalena. This snare 
is of indeterminate form, 
and sometimes attains im- 
mense dimensions, even 
enveloping an entire coffee 
tree. At first sight it ap- 
pears more like the spin- 
ningwork of sociable cat- 
erpillars than of spiders. 
When one opens the ex- 
terior envelope he sees 
that the interior is divided 
by silken partitions into 
irregular lodges; within 
these the spiders freely 
move about, and upon 
meeting touch one another, 
as do ants, with their an- 
tenne, and sometimes a 
number of them will be 2 
5 Fie. 35. Common leafy tent of Anelosimus socialis. 
seen feeding upon the Fig. 36. Cocoons of same. (After Simon.) 
same prey. ‘The cocoons 
are rounded, formed of flocculent wadding of an iron gray color, are with- 
out pedicles, and are fixed to the common web by threads which form a 
soft net. 
Upon this statement and the figure Of M. Simon, which I reproduce in 
Fig. 35, [remark that the phenomenon is explicable by the ordinary habits 
of young spiders. This I have fully illustrated in Section V., Chapter 
VIIL., Vol. Il. Such an assemblage as there shown (Fig. 251) differs 
Fie. 35. Fic. 36. 
