Chapter XX.
1. The anthrenæ[178] and wasps form cells for their progeny when they have no rulers, but are wandering about in search of them, the anthrenæ upon some high place, the wasps in holes. But when they have the rulers they form their cells underground. All their cells are hexagonal, like those of bees; they are not formed of wax, but of a web-like membrane, made of the bark of trees. The cells of the anthrenæ are far more elegant than those of wasps. Upon the side of their cells they place their progeny, in the manner of the bees, like a drop of liquid united to the wall of the cell. The progeny in all the cells is not alike, but in some they are so large as to be almost ready for flight, in others are nymphæ, in others grubs.
2. The only excrementitious matter is found in the cells of the grubs, as in the case of bees. As long as they are nymphæ they remain motionless, and the cell is sealed over, and on the other side of the cell which contains their progeny, there is a drop of honey in the combs of the anthrenæ. The grubs of these creatures are produced in the autumn, not in the spring, but they evidently grow most rapidly at the full moon. The progeny and the grubs are not united to the bottom, but to the side of the cell.
Chapter XXI.
1. Some of the bombycia[179] form an angular cell of mud, which they attach to a stone or something else, and smear with a kind of transparent substance; this is so very thick and hard, that it can scarcely be broken with the blow of a spear. In this they deposit their ova, and the white maggots are contained in a black membrane; and wax is formed in the mud without any membrane, this wax is much more yellow than that of bees.
2. The ants also have sexual intercourse, and produce maggots which they do not attach to anything. As these grow, they change from small round things to long articulated beings. The season for their production is in the spring.
3. The land-scorpions also bring forth many egg-like maggots, upon which they incubate. When the young ones are perfect, they drive out and destroy their parents like spiders, for they are frequently eleven in number.
Chapter XXII.
1. The arachnia copulate in the manner already described, and produce maggots which at first are small. After their metamorphosis they become spiders, not from a part but from the whole of the maggot, for they are round from the first. When the female has produced her ova, she incubates upon them, in three days they acquire limbs. All of them produce their young in a web, which is thin and small in some species, but compact in others. Some are enclosed entirely in a round receptacle, and others are only partially covered by the web. All the young spiders are not produced at once, but as soon as they are hatched they leap out and shoot forth a web. If they are bruised they are found to contain a thick white fluid like that of maggots.
2. The field-spiders first of all deposit their ova in a web, of which one half is attached to themselves, and the other external, they incubate upon this, and produce their young alive. The phalangia deposit their ova in a thick basket which they weave, upon this they incubate. The smooth kinds produce a small number, the phalangia a great many. When they are grown, they surround their parent in a circle, kill and throw her out. They often seize the male in the same way if they can catch him, for he assists the female in incubation. Sometimes there are as many as three hundred round a single phalangium. The little spiders become full-grown in about four weeks.