Wt i ‘ ‘ Na y Myers a A he } iuad Le tthst pier t Bagtrawe athe i) fap it he uty ‘ bree fs . sien f “4 hai “ye Vii SNA a) + ry, Bye Sth AMERICAN SPIDERS AND SORES ele NGEING VWVeO RudK. A NATURAL HISTORY ORBWEAVING SPIDERS OF THE UNITED STATES WITH SPECIAL REGARD TO THEIR INDUSTRY AND HABITS. BY HENRY OC. McCOOK, D.D., VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA; PROFESSOR OF ENTOMOLOGY IN THE PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. VOL iit WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF ORBWEAVING SPECIES AND PLATES. PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA, A. D. 1893. NU DEtORZS, Ea IN: This Edition is limited to Two Hunprep AnD Firry copies, of which this set is y ESE ———— Supscriprion No. / AuTHoR’s SIGNATURE, a THE PRESS OF ALLEN, LANE & SCOTT, PHILADELPHIA, THESE STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY ARE DEDICATED TO THE VENERATED MEMORY OF MY FATHER, JOHN McCOOK, M. D., A LOVER OF NATURE, A FRIEND OF SCIENCE, A GOOD PHYSICIAN, A SERVANT OF HIS FELLOW MEN, WHOSE FAITH IN THE UNSEEN NEVER FALTERED. Cage ? ! x ee » » _— a ali 4 = i to 4 s diel gid ahilel Jas Ooladye Wir profound satisfaction the author gives to the scientific public the third and last volume of a work which has engaged his thoughts for more an than twenty years. That he has been permitted to finish a labor Finished i ‘ 4 - Work. prolonged throughout so great a period, and wrought upon amidst the many duties and burdens of a busy professional career, excites earnest gratitude. The fear that he might not finish his self im- posed task, and thus leave an incomplete work, has caused sore anxiety, especially when, at sundry times, more or less serious illness has commanded pause. Happily this apprehension is now dismissed, and the duty at last ended is herewith submitted to the judgment of fellow workers in and lovers of Natural History. In the first part of the volume six chapters are taken to consider various natural habits and physiological problems for which there was no space in the two previous volumes. These topics are in the line of those Scope studies in Cicology to which the author has heretofore especially of the : ; ; ond Sot te Volume. Ven his attention. In addition thereto, and forming indeed the bulk of this volume, the second part thereof contains descriptions of many indigenous species of Orbweavers, illustrated by thirty litho- graphic plates, colored by hand from Nature. Most of these plates are of Orbweavers, the group to which the author has given special syste- matic study. But two plates are added, without descriptions attached thereto, of representative species of the other aranead groups, especially of those species whose habits have been presented in the foregoing volumes. This descriptive work has been thought necessary to complete studies which avowedly chiefly concerned habits and industry. The general forms, colors, and proportions of spiders as they present themselves to an obser- ver’s eye in Nature are important to the accurate understanding of their habits. One cannot appreciate in full the role which these creatures have to play in Nature until he have a just conception of how they look in the midst of the scenes wherein their life energies are spent. For this reason it formed part of the author’s original purpose to present the sub- jects of his study as they appear in natural site, that his readers may have acquaintance not only with their life history but with themselves. Moreover, in studying the habits of spiders it has been necessary to identify the species, and in many cases to describe them. It has seemed (5) 6 PREFACE, proper, therefore, that the work thus done should be preserved to science in connection with the descriptions of the animals’ life history. But the s far beyond the bounds of his first intent, and finally * shaped itself into the resolve to publish descriptions and plates not only of the Orbweavers whose habits he had described, but of all accessible American species of that group. In this matter he has been led along step by step, adding species to species, page to page, and plate to plate, by a desire to make his work yet more and more complete. Working naturalists, at least, will sympathize with and appreciate this fact. This descriptive work has made the closing volume in many respects the most difficult one of the series. To one who has to deal with small animals, scientific description is always a laborious service. oere When it is impossible to mount these animals in any satisfac- 1ve . : : . Work tory way, as is the case with spiders, and one is compelled to labor with alcoholic specimens, many of which are minute and mutilated, and often with unique examples in hand which may not be broken up for convenient study, the ordinary difficulties are much in- creased. Nevertheless, the work has not been an unpleasant one; for there is a fascination about studies in classification which every true naturalist has felt. Dry and uninteresting as the details usually are to the general public, to the specialist they have peculiar interest. he comparison of species with species and genus with genus; the task of separating on this side and on that; of solving the numerous problems that are constantly arising, and other duties of a like kind, bring into play some of the most pleasing faculties of the intellect, and contribute largely to the enjoyment of the systematic naturalist. Nevertheless, to one who can only labor at odd hours, and who is thus apt to lose the connection established by long and careful comparisons, the pleasure is much marred. This has been the author’s estate, and will add to the satisfaction which he will feel should it be judged that he has wrought with reasonable accuracy. In this connection it is proper to say that the increased cost of printing text and plates made it necessary two years ago to notify the public that the original price of ten dollars per volume, or thirty dollars for the entire set, including plates, must be increased to fifty dollars the set. All subscribers at the original price will be served with Volume III. without additional charge, but others must pay the advanced price. The author feels compelled to make this statement here in order to relieve himself from the painful duty of refusing requests, of which some have already come, to sell the work at the first named price. Even at the price now named, subscribers will receive the work at less than its actual cost; a statement which is made not in the way of complaint, for which there is no reason at all; nor to excite sympathy, which is neither required nor desired, but to give a plain and honest reason for a Cost of the Books. PREFACE, 7 change which ought to be explained. For further business notice those interested therein are referred to the advertisement at the close of the book. The most agreeable part of a preface to an author is his acknowledgment for kindly aid rendered by colaborers and friends. First of all, I express my gratitude to Dr. George Marx, of Washington, for the friendly and Sea valuable service which he has given me throughout many years. With a rare generosity and singleness of eye to the advancement of science, he placed at my disposal the Orbweayers in his notable collection. Not only so, but on all occasions he has cheerfully and freely given me the benefit of his advice and judgment. He has thus laid under lasting obliga- tion, not only the author, but all who are interested in his work. I have also to thank others, in different parts of the country, who have contributed specimens and information. Among these are Professor and Mrs. George W. Peckham, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, whose joint studies of the Attida have given to Araneology some of its most attractive and valuable chapters. Messrs. Oreutt, Davidson, and Blaisdell, and the late Mr. John Curtis, of California; Miss Rosa Smith, now Mrs. Eigenmann, and her mother, Mrs. Louisa Smith, of San Diego, California; Professor Orson Howard, of Utah, Mr. Thomas Gentry, of Philadelphia, and Messrs. Charles H. Townsend and Nathan Banks, of Washington, have contributed material that has entered into this work. Among European naturalists I am indebted to Mr. F. M. Campbell, of Herts, England, for many courtesies; Mr. Thomas Workman, of Belfast, Ireland, and Mr. Frederick Enock, of London, have sent me specimens. To Professor Waldemar Wagner, of Moscow, Russia, and Mr. Eugene Simon, of Paris, I am especially indebted for copies of their valu- able papers and books, and for permission to engrave and use some of the figures with which they are illustrated. To the veteran araneologist, Pro- fessor Tamerlane Thorell, whom I gladly acknowledge as “ magister,” I am indebted for advice from time to time rendered. I add an expression of my obligations to one who, unhappily for the in- terests of Science, no longer lives to prosecute his faithful and distinguished labors, the late Count Keyserling, of Germany. His descriptions of American Spiders have been of great service in determining indigenous species, and many specimens personally examined and identified by him have passed through my hands in the course of these studies. The posthumous volume of his noble work, “ Die Spinnen Amerikas,” Part IV., edited by Dr. Marx, and which relates to the Epeiride, was not issued until a large part of my descriptions were already in print. For this reason some species here appear as new which are described by him in his last work, and have priority, inasmuch as their publication antedates my own. The names, how- ever, are the same, inasmuch as the specific titles given in litteris by Count Keyserling to the examples in Dr. Marx’ collection have been preserved by me. These discrepancies I have corrected as far as possible in the plate titles. 8 PREFACE. I count it a duty as well as a pleasure to place among the number of those entitled to my public thanks the name of Miss Elizabeth F. Bonsall, who has made the original drawings for nearly all the plates contained in the atlas. Her faithful and successful work has not always been correctly reproduced by lithographers and colorists, but for the most part it speaks for itself in the admirable rendering from life of the species which she has figured. As the frontispiece of this volume I have printed a portrait of Professor Nicholas Marcellus Hentz, M. D., who may justly be regarded as the father of American Araneology. John Abbot was indeed before him in the field, and during the early part of this century made per- sonal studies in South Carolina and Georgia of our American spider fauna. The results of these studies, remain in the descriptions of Walckenaer and in the beautiful manuscript drawings now preserved in the Library of the British Museum of Natural History in Kensington, London, and to which fuller reference is made in the pages which follow. Some interesting notes upon the life of Professor Hentz, written by the late Mr. Edward Burgess, may be found in the preface to “The Spiders of the United States,” published by the Boston Society of Natural History. I am indebted to Professor Henshaw, the Secretary of that Society, for a photograph of the likeness from which the phototype plate of Professor Hentz has been made. It has been reproduced as faithfully as the age and condition of the original photograph would allow. In reviewing this book it falls out as a matter of course that I note imper- fections therein. Most of these, it may be said in all fairness, are due to the peculiar circumstances under which the work has been wrought. Some of the plates were finished, printed, and even colored, awaiting their place in the volume, as many as ten years ago. In the progress of study my views of certain species were modified, thus compelling some modification of the printed results. But this, as expressed in the plates, could not be done without rejecting and remaking the plates, a loss I did not feel it necessary to bear. Corrections and modifications have therefore been made in the text and in the plate descriptions, and no practical disadvantage need be felt by the student. Moreover, the detached manner in which all my work has been done, taking an hour here and there, or a week or so from a summer vacation, and the inabil- ity, because of professional obligations, to give close and connected ovyer- sight to the work of artists, lithographers, copyists, and colorists has resulted in some blunders which have indeed been easily corrected in the text, and would attract but little attention from the ordinary observer, but which none the less to an author are a blemish upon his work. Nevertheless, the author has at least the satisfaction of believing that he has honestly, faithfully, and impartially endeavored to meet every ques- tion, whether in the life habits or classification of spiders, to which he has Professor Hentz. Errors and Blemishes. PREFACE. 9 directed his attention. He indulges the hope that he may at least have cleared the way for others to follow, in a field where the difficulties are undeniably great, but where the rewards to an earnest seeker The ,. after Nature’s secret ways are abundant. They are had not only eens in the gratification of such pleasant toil, and in the conscious- ness of haying added to human knowledge and enjoyment, but in the higher satisfaction of having contributed somewhat to man’s knowl- edge of the works of his Creator. The author would count himself faithless to truth as well as to duty were he not to add that the last named consideration has been to him a continuous stimulus and support. He believes thoroughly in Author’s that view of Divine Providence taught him by beloved parents Chief . : : : : Tepe ; Wa ee ; Rienee le his childhood which makes it to be God’s “most wise and powerful preserving and governing all His creatures and all their actions.” The smallest creatures and the lowliest adventures of their humble lives are within the care of the Good Father of all, the Lord of spiders as well as the God of men. To bring all knowledge uncovered from the secret places of the natural world, and lay it devoutly before the world’s Creator as a tribute of worship and a token of spiritual fellowship, has been the chief motive which has urged the author to, has guided him through, and sustained him in, this work of twenty years, now happily ended. H. C. McC. THe Mansr, PuILaApevpnHia, Juty 3d, A. D. 1894. 7] = i Nae Ba zs ; are hi \ al i P ¥, ? ar i Ss Nein oat 7 r ' wh ey lide fy , i; - a aa ae } i" a _- = ’ 7 i i be Taj f ‘ : - : Va, 7. 4 ’ : a 2s Y, a Tr a ant - re ‘ ee Z * j a cs PAE. OF CONTENTS OF VOLUME TIE PART I—GENERAL HABITS, BIOLOGICAL MISCELLANY, AND ANATOMICAL NOMENCLATURE. CHAPTER I. TOILET, DRINKING, BURROWING, AND SOCIAL HABITS. PAGES Toilet Habits of Spiders—Toilet Implements—Hair Dressing the Feet—Combing and Washing the Head—Tarantula’s Toilet—Toilet Habits compared with Ants— Argiope Cleansing her Feet—Tidy Housekeeping—Clearing away Rubbish—Eating the Web—Penalty of Untidiness—Shamrock Spider—Purseweb Spider—Drinking Habits—Tarantula Drinking—Zillas Drinking—Feeding Habits—Dolomedes— Water Habits—Rafting Spiders—Long Submergence—Burrowing Methods—Lycosa_ Ti- grina—Maternal Ingenuity—Lycosa—Turret Spider’s Building—Flinging Dirt Pellets— Secretiveness— Tunnel of Atypus—Tunnels of Mygalidee— Tarantula Digging her Burrow —Carrying Dirt—California Trapdoor Spiders— Repairing Doors—Branch Nests—Site Mimicry of Cteniza Californica—Tarantula opifex— Professor Wagner, of Moscow—Trapdoor Making Lycosid —Territelarian Archi- tecture—Lycosid Architecture—Comparative Views of Industrial Habits—Young Spiders—Baby Communities—M. Eugene Simon’s Discoveries—Incubating Nest— Sociable Epeiras—Cocooning suspends Pugnacity—Mothers with many Cocoons— Social Theridioids—Tenting Commons of Spiderlings—Uloborus Republicanus— CHAPTER II. MEMORY, MIMICRY, AND PARASITISM. Intelligence and Memory—Cotton Utilized for Doors—Turret Spiders—Memory of Epeira Trifolium—Sense of Location—Insect Memory—Color Mimicry—Mimicry of Bird Excreta—Ornithoscatoides decipiens of Cambridge—Anthropomorphism— Evolution of Mimicry—Method of Ovipositing—A Parasitic Laryva—John L. Curtis—The Dictyna Parasite—Parasite on Epeira strix—Parasites in Cocoons— Egg Parasites—Mr. Howard’s Studies of Hymenopterous Parasites—Table of Para- sites and Parasitized Spiders—Generalizations—Relations of Spinning Habits to > oO Guarding Cocoons—Orbweaving Neighborhoods—Gregarious Saltigrades. ... . 15-46 Parasitism—Cocooning Habit and Parasitism ..... . Bor, 3) ee Ck Ende 44-62 CHAPTER III. BIOLOGICAL MISCELLANY. Spider Enemies—Wasps Pursuing Spiders—Tube Making Orbweavers—Sitting in the Hub—Fish Killing Spiders—Counterpoise in Web Weaving—Spider Poison—Pro- fessor Bevtkau’s Experience—Tigrina’s Courtship—Mending Snares—Nocturnal and Diurnal Spiders—A Wind Wrecked Web—Mending Foundation Lines—Patching Tubeweavers—Trapdoor Spiders—Intelligence in Locating Nest—Mode of Enter- ing Nest—Mimicry of Site—The Tarantula Hawk—Enemies Influencing Architec- ture—Mimicry—Baby Spiders. ........ Sage ice RUNES Vor DARE he ea aL 63-76 12 TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. WEATHER PROGNOSTICATIONS, SUNDRY SUPERSTITIONS, COMMERCIAL VALUE OF SPIDER SILK. PAGES Weather Prognostication—Stories and Traditions—The Popular Notion—Notes of Weather and Webs—Orbweavers no Weather Prophets—Spider Superstitions— Money Spinners—Luck in Seeing Spiders—Spider Silk in Industrial Art—Sources of Spider Silk—M. Bon’s Pioneer Attempts—Reaumur’s Results—Abbe Termeyer’s Experiments—Reeling Silk from Spiders—Professor Wilder’s Experiments—Nephila as a Silk Producer—An Englishman’s Attempt ..........-......--. 77-89 CHAPTER V. MOULTING HABITS OF SPIDERS. Moulting of Young—Cannibalism—Young Epeiras—Mode of Moulting—Baby Congre- gations — Young Turret Spiders— Young Dolomedes — Theridioids— Manner of Moulting — Orbweayers’ Moulting— After the Moult—Argiope’s Moulting—Liny- phia—Medicinal Spider—Lycosids—Tarantula—Periodicity of Moulting—Modifying Agents—Effect of Insect Stings—Protective Habits—Facility in Moulting—Moulting Dangers—Limbs Lost in Moulting—Effect of Nourishment—Color Changes—Change in Males—Peckham’s Studies of Attidee—Laterigrades—Change in Tarantulas— Summary — Periodicity of Moulting— Physiological Moulting Changes— Forming New Skin—Professor Wagner’s Studies—Blood—Moulting of Hairs—Origin of New Hairs—Poison Gland—Abdominal Muscles—Legs—Spinning Organs—Summary . . 90-115 CHAPTER VI. REGENERATION OF LOST ORGANS AND ANATOMICAL NOMENCLATURE. Renewal of Lost Organs—Dr. Heineken’s Observations—Wagner’s Work—Lost Limbs— Imperfect Reproduction—The Huntsman Spider—Periodicity of Regeneration— Atrophy of Old Tissues—Formation of Cicatrix—Red Blood Cells—Atrophy of Muscles—Origin and Development of a New Leg—Origin of Hairs—Anatomical Nomenclature—The Eyes—Cephalothorax—Abdomen—Epigynum and Parts—Use of Male Palps—Cymbium—Alveolus—Hematodocha—Receptaculum seminis—Blood 10 ta ach ere mn our Geren iGeS #ugca nes Piru ae Swe) os ao omc 116-131 PART II—DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. Orbitelarize Defined—Habits and Classification—The Name of the Order—Aranese— Changes in Nomenclature—Law of Priority—The Abbot Manuscripts—Influence on the Hentzian Names—Description of Genera and Species—Epeira—Marxia— Ordgarius — Verrucosa — Kaira — Wagneria — Wixia — Carepalxis — Gea — Gastera- cantha—Acrosoma—Cercidia— rgiope—Cyclosa—Cyrtophora— Zilla—Singa—Argyro- epeira—A bbotia—Larinia—Drexelia—Meta— Nephila—Hentzia —Tetragnatha —Eug- natha—Eucta—Pachygnatha—Uloborus—Hy ptiotes —Theridiosoma—Samples of Ab- bot’s Manuscript Drawings—Theridium—Tubeweavers—A galena—Dictyna—Trapdoor Spiders— Cteniza —Aty pus — Misumena —Attoids — Phidippus — Zygobalus—Astia— Citigrades—DLycosa—Pucetia.;, 2's} 2 <<) +s 0G) ees 132-277 TABLE OF CONTENTS. ey PART IIL.—PLATES AND INDEX. Phototype of Professor N. M. Hentz (from a photograph in possession of the Bostonm Naturale eustonyiocCleby,) rome tw cited fer =) tell) we)