Life-History.

About the months of February and March the female lays from thirty to sixty small white eggs. These are placed between the wall of the nest and a piece of silk stretched across a rounded part of the tube (fig. 10, O, the arrow).

The egg-bag is placed variously in the nest, but in fig. 14 (top) the commonest position is shown. The piece which stretches across the sides of the tube is ⅖in. in diameter. Separate egg-cases, with two sides, not connected to the tube; are rare. The young emerge and lie dormant, inside the case. After a week or so the mother removes the covering,. and often weaves in lieu of it a transparent filament-like veil of silk over them (fig. 10, b).

After the young become strong enough they push out of the covering, and wander out of their old home. Often some few remain with their mother, and frequently are met with as late as the end of April. These must be provided with food by their parent, for they are often a fair size.

[The section below cannot be correctly rendered as it contains complex formatting. See the image of the page for a more accurate rendering.]

When the young emerge from the parent nest the majority are pounced upon and eaten by an eager, hungry horde of bank-inhabiting, vagabond' spiders. Few escape; those that do proceed to burrow their tiny tunnels and to make their nests. They bite out the earth with their falces, which are very strong. Of course, the state of the earth determines the length of time taken to make the boring. The doors of the nests of young spiders are round, very small, being less than 1/12 in. in diameter, and very difficult to detect. As the spider grows she needs to enlarge her door.