96 



A. S. PEARSE 



Experiment i. On August 21, 190Q, twenty-four white and 

 twenty-six yellow Misumenas were collected and placed together 

 in a large rectangular glass dish forty centimeters long, twenty- 

 five centimeters wide and twelve centimeters deep. Except 

 for the cover, one-half of this dish was completely enclosed in 

 yellow, the other half in white. The fifty individuals were ex- 

 amined two or more times a day until August 26. 



There appeared to be no tendency for yellow or white indi- 

 viduals to come to rest more often on one color than on the other. 

 There were always about as many white as yellow individuals 

 in either end of the dish. This experiment then gave no evi- 

 dence that Misumena seeks a background which matches its 

 color. 



Experiment 2. In this experiment spiders were placed in a 

 vial and allowed to go from it through a small hole in the 

 side of a box (measuring 7 cm. high, 15 cm. long, and 11 cm. 

 wide). This box was lined half with yellow paper (c. c. 176) 

 and half with white paper in such a way that it \\'as divided 

 vertically by the two colors at right angles to the long axis. 

 The spider was admitted on the floor of the box and on the line 

 of division between the white and yellow; its subsequent move- 



TABLE VII 



Showing the Direction of Movement T.\ken by Spiders in a Box Colored 

 Half Yellow and Half White. "0" Indicates no Movement, or that 

 the Movement Could not be Said to be in the Direction of Either 

 Color. 



ments were ob£er\'ed and recorded ; after that it was removed 

 and another individual was tested. The results of these tests 

 are given in Table VII ; they show no evidence of selection 

 of color -environment to correspond with the color of the spiders. 

 In fact the different individuals appeared to wander off in any 

 direction after entering the box. 



