140 



AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNING WORK. 



Burrow 

 and Co- 

 coon of 

 Psalis- 

 tops. 



than large, and are suspended obliquely, like a hammock, between the op- 

 posite walls, as shown in the outline sketch, Fig. 171. 



Among the Venezuelan Avicularidte Simon discovered and describes an 

 interesting species, which he names Psalistops melunophygia. It is a com- 

 mon species in the neighborhood of Caracas, jjarticularly in the 

 forest of Catuclie. It digs a burrow in the ground six or seven 

 inebes in depth, garnislied toward the to}) witii a silken lining 

 sliglitly adlicrent. The burrow is quite straight in the upper 

 part, from which proceeds a simple branch, straight and quite 

 long, cutting the main entrance at an acute angle, and mount- 

 ing near to tlie surface of the earth. (See Fig. 172.) Below the point at 



which this side branch enters, the main 



burrow is much enlarged and more or less 



curved towards the bottom. From this 



point also it is destitute of a silken lining. 



The opening to the burrow is witli- 



out a trapdoor. It is slightly elevated 



above the surface, where it is always gar- 



V ^^ , , ^^ ''^^ ''' '^rl nished by a collarette of dry leaves or 



- "" *' ' **-' any other sort of debris retained within 



the threads. The eggs, which were ob- 

 served on the 12th of January, are not 

 agglutinated. They are enveloped in a 

 simple cocoon of cottony tissue, white aftd 

 opaque; are placed near the bottom of 

 the burrow, and suspended from one of 

 the walls by a very short pedicle or 

 stalk. 1 (See Fig. 172.) 



A large female Tarantula, probably 

 Eurypelma hentzii, or a closely related 

 species, was sent to me from the West 

 Indies, and arrived at the Academy dur- 

 ing a prolonged absence. She died be- 

 fore my return, and was preserved in 

 spirits; but afforded me an opportunity, 

 which I had long desired, of determining the egg cocoon made by this family 

 + 1 "^ *^^® Theraphosoida3. While cleaning out the box in which 

 Cocoon ^^^^ ^^^ heen sent I observed a piece of spinningwork within, 

 which proved to be an abandoned cocoon. When inflated it 

 showed a hollow spheroid composed of thick silken cloth, somewhat soiled 

 on the outside, but within clean and white. It measured two inches along 

 the longer axis and one and one-fourth inch along the shorter one. It 



Fi«. 172. The burrow of Psalistops nielano- 

 phygia, showing the cocoon suspended at 

 the bottom. (Aft«r Simon.) 



' Simon, Arachnides de Venezuela, page 197, plate 3, Fig. ]. 



