144 HARVEST-SPIDERS 



without preliminary courtship, and grasps her firmly, holding the 

 trochanters of her first legs with the spur on his femur while 

 copulation takes place (Bishop, 1949a). 



In the short-legged Trogulidae the male hangs beneath the 

 female clasping her with his legs, whose claws grip the rough sur- 

 face on her back so that the ventral surfaces of the two are opposed 

 (Pabst, 1953). 



It has often been reported that at the breeding season male 

 harvest-spiders fight 'bloodless battles' with one another, but 

 Bristowe (1941)* has suggested that the explanation of these fights 

 has as its basis sexual excitement and mistaken identity. The male's 

 chemo-tactic sense is stimulated not only by a female but also by a 

 male of its own kind as is shown by the extrusion of the penis. 



Reproduction and life cycle 



Female harvest-spiders have very long ovipositors and generally 

 lay their eggs in crevices in the soil, under stones, wood and in 

 other moist places. Among the New Zealand Palpatores mating 

 usually takes place in October and November and eggs are laid 

 between late October and December. No eggs appear to be laid in 

 the autumn for over-wintering as is the case in some British Pal- 

 patores. In Hendea myersi and other Triaeonychidae the eggs are 

 deposited in small groups numbering from one to five among leaf- 

 mould or more commonly in rotting wood, and these receive no 

 further attention. From 20 to 60 eggs may be laid in this way 

 during two weeks. The species of Soerensella^ by contrast, select 

 the under surface of a log or occasionally a space beneath a loose 

 fitting rock for oviposition. A small group of eggs, from 10 to 20, 

 is laid and this is then guarded by the female. At intervals of a few 

 days or a week further eggs are deposited so that in some cases egg 

 masses of some 60 to 100 eggs may be found, some of which are 

 hatching, while others are found in all stages of development, often 

 including newly laid eggs. It is probable that hatching normally 

 takes about 20 days (Forster, 1954). 



In Phalangium opilio among the Palpatores the first oviposition 

 usually takes place about 18 days after the final moult, the second 

 2 to 22 days later and a third in another week. Virgin females can lay 

 eggs, but do not usually do so (Gueutal, 1944). The eggs are 



