COURTSHIP AND MATING 85 



Now the male grows excited as he approaches her, and while 

 still several inches away, whirls completely around and around; 

 pausing, he runs closer and begins to make his abdomen quiver 

 as he stands on tiptoe in front of her. Prancing from side to 

 side, he grows bolder and bolder, while she seems less fierce, 

 and yielding to the excitement lifts up her magnificently irides- 

 cent abdomen, holding it at one time vertically and at another 

 sideways to him. She no longer rushes at him, but retreats a 

 little as he approaches. At last he comes close to her, lying flat, 

 with his first legs stretched out and quivering. With the tips of 

 his front legs he gently pats her; this seems to arouse the old 

 demon of resistance, and she drives him back. Again and again 

 he pats her with a caressing movement, gradually creeping nearer 

 and nearer, which she now permits without resistance until he 

 crawls over her head to her abdomen, far enough to reach the 

 epigynum with his palpus. 13 



The largest American jumping spiders are the massive, hairy 

 species of Phidippus (Plates 30, 31 and 32; Plates XXXI and 

 XXXII), which are gaily marked with light spots and often gaudily 

 colored in carmine, orange, and yellow. The face is usually distin- 

 guished by tufts of curled hairs and bands of colored scales and 

 hairs. The elegance of their front legs is especially notable, with 

 long flowing fringes of colored hairs. Some species wave these 

 handsome legs so vigorously that they cross at the tips, but in most 

 instances they are brought to an angle of about forty-five degrees, 

 and, as the male sways toward the female, or approaches her in 

 zigzag fashion, are moved up and down to bring into view the 

 plumes and iridescent plates. 



Representative of another group very numerous in species is 

 Metaphidippus capitatus. When courting, this species approaches 

 the female rapidly until a couple of inches away, arms extended 

 upward, then stops and drops them down close to the surface. In 

 this position, the face, variegated with snow-white bands and with 

 contrasting gleaming bronze scales, becomes the center of atten- 

 tion. 



Peckhamia picata (Text Fig. 2, E) is one of the antlike spiders. 



13 G. W. and E. G. Peckham, "Observations on Sexual Selection in Spiders 

 of the Family Attidae, Occasional Papers Nat. Hist. Soc., Wisconsin, Vol. i 

 (i) (1889), p. 46. 



