338 PKDAL NOSE IN TK.\P-J)()OK SPIDERS. 



mature male appears to have no appetite for food. 1 have re- 

 peatedly offered him flies and grubs, but all in vain ; he is, more- 

 over, more amiable than the females, never shewing tight when 

 irritated, and some ten or twelve s])ecimens lived together 

 amicably for more than a fortnight in a small box. Tt is likely, 

 therefore, that the sense of smell is n()t required in a <earch for 

 food. 



Their existence in the adult stage is indeed but brief. Dur- 

 ing April and May they were abundant at Alicedale, Imt during 

 June Mr. Cruden repeatedly searched for males on mv behalf 

 without finding a single specimen. 



In all ])robability their sole function in life is that (,)f breed- 

 ing, and it is conceivable that the olfactory sense is useful in 

 helping to discover the female. In his search for a mate the 

 sense of sight will not hel]j him much as the female always 

 remains well concealed within her nest. I have not yet been 

 able to observe the mating habits, but have noticed his agitated 

 behaviour in the presence c:>f the adult females. 



A few female specimens were kept for a week or two in a 

 small Ijox half hlled with dry, loose earth, on the surface of 

 wdiich they slowly crawled about for a time, and eventually 

 settled down half-buried in such depressions as they could hnd. 

 On drop])ing an adult male into this box at some little distance 

 from any of the females, he soon exhiljited a peculiar attitude, 

 different from anv he had previously displayed either in res])onse 

 to pinching or to strong doses of citronella. Standing on his 

 three hinder pairs of legs, he raised his bocK- high in the air, 

 threw out his forelegs horizontally forwards like feelers, and 

 withdrew the palps backwards over the carapace, the ])alpal 

 tibiag being directed horizontally. Thus he remained almost 

 motionless excc])t that the ft^relegs were slowly waxed around 

 and now and then were tapped deliberately on the ground. The 

 most marked feature of this courting attitude is the withdrawal 

 of the ])ali)s which ordinariK- are held in front when walking 

 or running. In this position the c-reature remained for se\eral 

 minutes. 



Tlie late Dr. T. If. .Montgomery, who has written exten- 

 sivel\' on the court'-liii) ])eha\iour of \arious two-lunged s])iders, 

 Consider^ this attitude to be a nv idilicat ion of that normallv ex- 

 hibited as a result of alarm. This \ icw seems to me a very 

 reasonable one. ( )n one occasion a male was taken from his 

 'box and dropi)ed (m a thick talilccloth, the surface of which 

 presented numerous loose, ])rojecting fibres; for a ver\- short 

 time he also took up the characteristic cnurting attitude, though- 

 there were no females in the vicinitv. 



L'nfortunatel\- the females at m\ disi)osal l)etrayed no 

 amatory emotions in response to the ])ersistent courtshi]) of the 

 males. ( )ccasionall\-, during his peregrinations a male ha])pened 

 to touch a female, when she at once showed her fangs, and he 

 discreeth- withdrew. 



