120 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [Jan., 



Mating. — On July 27, at 9.27 A.M., the male was dropped upon 

 her web. At 9.31 he touched her, and copulated from 9.32^ to 9.42. 

 She hung ventral surface up by her fourth pair of legs to the web lines, 

 her other legs flexed close to the cephalothorax, her thorax horizontal. 

 The male approached her from in front of her head wdth his long axis 

 also in the horizontal plane, walking upon the upturned ventral sur- 

 face of her cephalothorax and abdomen, when he firmly implanted 

 his outstretched left palpus in her epigynal orifice; then keeping the 

 palpal organ there, he swung his body round so as to bring it on the 

 right side of her abdomen, so that now his head was upmost and a little 

 posterior to her epigynum, and the long axis of his body was approxi- 

 mately parallel to an imaginary line joining her spinnerets with the 

 most posterior spinous processes of her abdomen. Here he held on 

 firmly with his feet to the roughened surface of her abdomen, prac- 

 tically out of reach of any of her legs, and was not dislodged even 

 though part of the time she climbed about as if trying to get rid of 

 him. A swollen evaginated sac connected with the inserted palpal 

 organ was clearly seen in dilation, and he held his palpus inserted 

 until it had collapsed. He then disengaged himself from her, but 

 returned and copulated again, from 9.55 to 10.03, this time placing 

 himself on the left side of her abdomen and using his right palpus. 

 Then he left her again and remained quiet most of the time up to 10.30. 

 At 10.32 he approached and touched her, she followed him and once 

 embraced him lightly with her legs, but he avoided her. After that 

 she climbed about, and whenever she touched one of the web lines 

 which he was holding, by a sudden contraction of his legs he pulled 

 the line taut; this was possibly an amatory signal. I watched the 

 pair continuously up to 1 o'clock, but saw no further copulation nor 

 any preparation for sperm-induction. 



Epeira labyrinthea Hentz. 



Of this abundant and beautiful Epeirid only two individuals were 

 watched, c? No. 281 was captured July 2, moulted July 5, died about 

 September 1 (from hunger). 9 No. 280 was captured July 2, moulted 

 July 13 and 18, and died (from hunger) about October 1. This 

 species, as well known, fabricates a labyrinth of lines behind a vertical 

 orb; the female made such a complete web, but the male made no 

 orb. 



Mating. — After the female had constructed her web and had made 

 1 cocoon, the male was dropped upon her labyrinth on July 26, at 

 8.07 P.M. She was in her usual position, just beneath her cocoon, 



