MATERNAL INDUSTRY: COCOONS OF ORBWEAVERS. 



101 



ill niauy cases (not all) becomes much rounded as the spiders grow. If 

 the caj) be lifted up or pulled off, as may readily be done when the 

 young are nearly ready to emerge, a 

 ball of yellow silk will be found inside, 

 amidst which the eggs are originally 

 deposited, and in whose fibres the spi- 

 derlings burrow. The cocoons are in 

 number about five, more or less, and 

 each one contains about twelve to twen- 

 ty eggs, so that the aggregate number 

 of eggs is about equal to that found 

 in the single cocoons of some other 

 species. 



For the most part the cocoons over- 

 lay one another, the top of each projecting one- 

 third to one-half its length over its neighbor, as 

 shown at Fig. 89, i, front view ; ii, back view. 

 They are held together chiefly by a band of loose 

 threads (o, ii) which are stretched along the back 

 Fig. 86. Fio. 87. parts of the cups, although at the points where the 

 Cocoon strings of Labyrinth cocoous Overlap they are also lightly attached. The 



spider. (Natural size.) Fig. -, t i • i j_i n , 



86. Tlie manner of lashing band UpOU WUlCh the COCOOUS are thus strung IS 



above. FIO. 87. The tiled fastened to a strong, thick, branching w^hite cord, 



position of the cocoons. ,.,. iti iii 



which IS anchored above and below 

 to the network of cross lines. This cord is usually longest 

 above, deltatcd and often suspended upon a similar trans- 

 verse cord. (See Figs. 85, 86.) When the cocoons are 

 opened in October, the spiderlings are found fully de- 

 veloped, lively, and ready to escape. They resemble the 

 adult form in markings. 



The cocoons arc sometimes separated from each other, 

 as at Fig. 86, but again are all overlaid. Fig. 87, being 

 lashed together by the band of threads upon which they 

 arc strung. Occasionally, the spider will spin her tent 

 beneath the lowest cocooii of the series, instead of the 

 usual leaf or other debris, and will be found backed up 

 against the same, holding to the trapline of her snare. 

 (Fig. 90.) The full page cut (Fig. 85) shows Labyrin- 

 thea's cocoons strung in natural site, above and behind 

 the leaf-roofed tent. 



The mother begins to spin her cocoons in August, 

 adding one every week, or thereabouts, until the tale is complete. The 

 suspensory cords that support the cocoon string are strong, thick, and of a 

 pure white color. I have found numbers of the empty cocoon shells in 



Fig. 89. Two overlaid 

 cocoons of Labyrin- 

 thea, showing the 

 cord i, and ii, o, x, 

 upon which they are 

 strung. (Natural size) 



