Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-18
SPIDER LOVE.
The Female Shows Much Affection for
Her Young.

From La Nature.
1t is not unusual to find in fields OF oats
panicles which are more or less enveloped
In spiders threads crossing In every direc-
ton. SO as to form whitish nodules the
size Of pigeons eggs. and inclosng I'm
their tissue the spikelets and sometimes
the leaves OF the grain. These are the
nests Of a spider. the Chiracanthium carni-
fex. which is of a yeliowish gray color
with a brownish band on the dorsal face
Of the abdomen.
Upon opening one of these nests Il is
seen that the interior is hollow and that
only a small part of the cavity is occu-
pied by the eggs and the mother. The
former are In a little spherical cocoon,
formed OF silk like the side of the nest
to which It Is securely attached. While
the female which has laid the eggs re-
mains within the nest she Is often found
resting on the cocoon itself but some
times leaves that place. When an open
ing Is made in the waIf she goes to see
what has happened. and may even go
outside. but she hastens back and i'm
mediately begins to weave a tissue to
mend the breach In the nest. Her love
Tor the cocoon is manifest, for she never
abandons 1t even when tormented.
How far-reaching this maternal love is
and its duration, is the question which NJ
A. location has attempted to solve by re-
moving the true mother of each nest and
giving her place to a stranger, which we
shall call the pseudo mother" Some of
his experiments have all the interest Of a
little drama
After having made a break In the web
or the nest the mother is removed and her
place Is given to pseudo-mother. She
enters II without hesitation, takes a sur
vey of the interior. and at once begins to
close the entrance. The mother is then
brought to the nest. She goes toward the
entrance and wishes to penetrate 1t, but
stops on fndng the place occupied. The
pseudo-mother, who cannot come out while
her adversary remains at the entrance,
seeks to defend herself against the attack
self on the defensive. The mother then
shows signs of violent anger She rocks
her body from right to left and from
ieft to right. and the two spiders exchange
blows through the opening.
The mothers attitude is violently Often
sive. she threatening to seize her adver-
sary, while that OF the pseudo mother
who cannot come out to save herself since
the opening Is besieged-is one OF fear and
only defensive; she is conscious that she
is not at home. Twice the beseger leaves
the entrance to find some other place to
penetrate into the nest. Her opponent
the opening to save herself. but the
mother, seeing this, Immediately returns
to seize her. The pseudo-mother. not en-
tirely out Of the nest has only time to
throw herself back, and finally, the mother
having Withdrawn the third time she is
enabled by quick movement to escape.
although the former again advances, but
cannot seize her.
The attack on the nest by the mother
continues quarter of hour. Then.
after having spent several seconds in as
surfing herself that h0 rival has dis
appeared, she enters, but comes out two
successive times in order again to ex-
plore the exterior. Finally she returns
and. after remaining immovable for five
minutes, begins to stop up the aperture
The pseudo mother is placed upon the nest
three times. but refuses positively to ap-
proach from the side. and retreats precipf-
lately.
This experiment shows that the pseudo
mother readily adopts another nest, even
when she has been separated from her
own several days. but does not defend
1t against the attack Of the mother. When
the latter is In the nest she refuses to try
to enter: The mother. on the contrary.
does not hesitate to besiege her enemy
until she overpowers her and regains
possession OF the nest.
The experiment is repeated after the
mother has been kept from her nest
twenty-four hours. and 1t has been found
that she shows great attachment to it,
with a desire again to gain possession
But, at the same time. the pseudo mother
has become attached to her nest of adop-
ton. not leaving It voluntarily, and even
defending 1t vigorously from the attack of
the true mother.
When the mother had been kept from the
nest eight days she did not show any in
terest In her eggs nor try to recover them
when placed in the vicinity.
Maternal love among the spiders which
nave been studied Is therefore very mani
fest but 1t diminishes when the mother
is kept away. and finally disappears. How
similar are human sentiments under like
conditions!