30 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



found near those of the females, and Mr. Enoch Ijelieves that they find 

 their way into the female's quarters the same night that they emerge from 

 their own nests. 



VI. 



Darwin learned from Mr. Blackwall that he had not seen the males of 

 any spider fighting together for the possession of the female. He further 

 expresses the opinion that, judging from analogy, it is not prob- 

 Pights of ^^^^ ^Yint such a habit exists, for the males are generally nnich 

 Males. gj-j-^ajigi- than the females, sometimes to an extraordinary degree. 

 Had the males been in the habit of fighting together, Mr. Darwin argues, 

 they would, it is probable, liave acquired greater size and strength. ^ But 

 later observers have been more fortunate than Blackwall, and their obser- 

 vations reverse the judgment of Darwin. We now know that, as with many 

 other animals, the mating period of spiders is marked by frequent and 

 vigorous conflicts among the males, who are thus not only exposed to peril 

 from the voracity of their mates, but also from the jealousy of their rivals. 

 It might indeed seem, in view of tlie fact that a number of males may be 

 found at one time quietly hanging about the lady's bower, that they are 

 not a very combative generation. Doubtless, the males of Sedentary species 

 do have, occasionally, to secure their marital rights by battle. But such 

 combats are probably far less frequent than among the Wanderers. In 

 point of fact, the conditions are such that it is not so easy for them to come 

 in personal contact with one another. When several Orbweavers attend 

 one female they prefer different parts of the web, and even when I have 

 seen them grouped tolerably near one another they showed no disposition 

 to quarrel. 



With the Wandering tribes the conditions are different and such as to 

 compel personal contact with rivals, and thus it may be that a more com- 

 bative habit has grown up. This is well illustrated by the obser- 

 ^*^*^" vations of Professor and Mrs. Peckham upon the Saltigrades. 



Quar^rels. '^hese naturalists have given a number of interesting and valu- 

 able notes upon the combats between males. The various atti- 

 tudes were both photographed and figured from Nature, and as a result 

 we have not only attractive descriptions but characteristic illustrations. 

 Some of these I have copied. The males of our little Zebra spider, 

 Epiblemum scenicum, wliich may be seen in the early spring 

 Epible- skipping about on walls, fences, and outhouses, were found fight- 

 ^"^^ ing on a lirick wall. They held up the first pair of legs and 



cum moved rapidly in front of each other, now advancnig and now 



retreating in a half circle, distant from each other about four 

 and a half inches. There was little real earnestness in the affair, and it 



■ Descent of Man, Vol. II., chapter ix., page 329, Aiiier. Ed. 



