186 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



construction, and the amount of care which the mother gives it? There 

 is much difference in tl»c extent of elaboration of cocoons. The simplest 

 construction of which I have any knowledge is that of our com- 

 Complex- nion cellar spider, Pholcus phalangioVdes, which surrounds its 

 ijF . ^ , little cluster of agglutinated eggs with tlie barest filament of 

 Care. ^^"^ through which the eggs are entirely visible. This rude co- 



coon the mother holds underneath her jaws, and there carries it 

 until the spiderlings are ready to hatch out, when they take their place 

 upon the straggling lines at the top of the maternal snare. Steatoda bore- 

 alis spins a cocoon scarcely more elaborate than the above ; she hangs it 

 within her -snare of crossed lines and stays near it. The cocoons of Lycosa 

 and Dolomedes are also carried about by the mothers until they arc hatched 

 or nearly readj' to hatch. These cocoons arc rather simple in structure, 

 consisting of a patch of spinningwork rolled up into a ball, without any 

 internal padding or protection whatever. The cocoons of many Tube- 

 weavers, the Drassids, for example, and the cocoons of Laterigrade spiders 

 are simple parchment like textures, spun against a surface, and are also 

 free from any internal padding or external protection. 



These spiders are in the habit of watching their cocoons, remaining 

 near them until the little ones are hatched. Thus far it might be said 

 that there is some reason for the conclusion that lack of complexity in 

 the structure of a cocoon is supplemented by additional vigilance on the 

 part of the mother in watching the cocoon. 



Let us see how it is among Orbweavers. The most complex cocoons 

 are found among these spiders. That of Argiope, for example, 

 _ , exhibits remarkable regard for the protection of eggs and young, 



weavers. ^J ^^^ tough external case, its thick lined padding of brown silk, 

 which nearly surrounds the egg mass, and the sac which con- 

 tains it. Argiope, as far as known, never watches her cocoon. 



The same is true of most species of the genus Epeira, whose cocoons 

 are frequently enclosed within a tent of sheeted spinningwork or of closely 

 laid lines, and are themselves composed of several layers of spinningwork 

 of various textures. Most spiders of this genus give their cocoons no care 

 after they have made them. There are, however, exceptions. Epeira cine- 

 rea, for example, not only encloses her eggs in a well furnished cocoon, 

 but adds to it scrapings from the bark of trees or the dry wood surface 

 upon which the cocoon may be fastened. Yet, according to Mrs. Mary 

 Treat, this spider is extremely watchful of its cocoon. 



Cyclosa caudata provides the ordinary enswathment for her eggs, and 



adds to that an exterior armor of the disjecta membra of in- 



Vigils. ^'^^^^ captured by her. Yet these cocoons are hung within her 



snare, and during the cocooning season she is found constantly 



clinging to the end of her cocoon string. However, that this contiguity is 



an actual vigil is not proved. 



