BEHAVIOR OF INSECTS OTHER THAN ANTS 405 



the following conclusions: "Bees easily distinguish colors 

 whether they are artificial (paints, dyes, etc.) or natural 

 ('chlorophyll') colors. Bees are more strongly influenced by 

 a colored slide than by one without color. Bees which have 

 been accustomed to visit a certain color tend to return to it 

 habitually — they exhibit color fidelity. But this habit does 

 not become obsessional, since they quickly learn not to dis- 

 criminate between colors when this is for their advantage." 

 These experiments were well conducted; but no precautions 

 were taken to be sure that the responses were really to hues 

 and not to grayness. 



Under a stone, Petrunkevitch "•'' found a male and a female 

 Dysdera crocata which he placed in a glass dish containing earth, 

 separating them by means of wire netting. When the netting 

 was removed, they met face to face in a threatening manner, 

 but did not fight. While the female was digging a hole and 

 lining it with silk, the male came near and, according to the 

 author, was evidently watching her. When about to mate 

 the male and female met face to face. The male crept under 

 the sternum of the female and grasped her firmly by the petiolus 

 with his mandibles, the fangs of which were folded, and em- 

 braced her with his legs. The female, who made no objections 

 to these overtures, lay down and the male, w^hile continually 

 patting her with his third pair of legs, applied his palpus. Coitus 

 lasted five minutes. During the whole of the time the back 

 of the male was in contact with the sternum of the female. 

 In spite of Prof. Montgomery's objections, the author maintains: 



" I repeat, therefore, that sight is the only sense of sex recog- 

 nition in hunting spiders. After sex has been recognized, 

 courtship begins, and touch, is the chief means by which the 

 male excites the female and tests her willingness to accept him." 

 To an unprejudiced student of animal behavior who is acquainted 

 with Montgomery's point of view, the mere fact that this spider 

 stood at attention and then reacted in a definite way does not 

 seem sufficient warrant for the universal assertion that sight 

 is the only sense of sex recognition in hunting spiders. Since, 

 in a paper* published several years ago, Petrunkevitch has 

 proved that the structure of the spider's eye is such as to per- 



* Petrunkevitch, Alex., "The Sense of Sight in Spider.s." Jour. Exp. ZooJ., 1907, 

 V, 275-310. 



