x] JUMPING SPIDERS 85 



after two weeks of hard fighting between the males, 

 the Peckhams were unable to discover one wounded 

 warrior. The females, on the other hand, were 

 often really formidable. Phidippus morsitans is an 

 example. The male has handsome front legs, thickly 

 fringed with white hairs, and he displays these to 

 the best advantage in his love antics. Two males 

 supplied in succession to one female "had offered her 

 only the merest civilities when she leaped upon them 

 and killed them." 



In the case of most of the spiders whose love- 

 dances were investigated, the chief ornamentation 

 of the male consisted of fringes of white or coloured 

 hairs on the face, the palps, and the front legs, and 

 they kept these parts always before the females, 

 displaying their glories to the utmost advantage. 

 The male of Habrocestum splendens, however, pos- 

 sesses an extremely brilliant abdomen, and, lest 

 anything of its beauty should be lost upon the object 

 of his admiration, he varies the ordinary performance 

 in a remarkable manner. He often pauses in the 

 dance, and, raising his abdomen, "strikes an attitude" 

 in which he remains motionless for half a minute. 

 Moreover he frequently turns his back on the female 

 -a most unusual occurrence in the course of these 

 antics. 



The males of one species, Philaeus militaris, were 

 observed to capture and keep guard over young 



