84 SPIDERS [CH. 



The performance was much as before, but the spiders 

 assumed different attitudes. The female lay flat on 

 the ground with her front legs raised ; the male 

 danced on the six hind legs, with the front legs 

 lowered and meeting at the tips. The males of 

 this species were exceedingly quarrelsome, sparring 

 frantically whenever they met, but their battles were 



Fig. 10. A male Attid spider (Astia vittata) dancing before 

 the female. (After Peckham.) 



entirely bloodless. "Indeed," say the observers, 

 "having watched hundreds of seemingly terrible 

 battles between the males of this and other species, 

 the conclusion has been forced upon us that they are 

 all sham affairs, gotten up for the purpose of 

 displaying before the females, who commonly stand 

 by, interested spectators." In the case of one species, 



