SCORPIONS, SPIDERS AND CRABS 245 



These most patient observers seem to have been con- 

 vinced that whenever Spiders possess vividly coloured 

 areas on their bodies they are not only conscious of this 

 fact, but desire to make the most of such splendour 

 during the period of love-making. Thus they interpret 

 the behaviour of a curiously ant-like Spider — Synageles 

 ficata — which has the first pair of legs especially 

 thickened, flattened on the anterior surface, and of a 

 highly iridescent steel-blue colour. As he approaches 

 the female he pauses " every few moments to rock from 

 side to side, and to bend his brilliant legs so that she 

 tnay look full at them; ... he could not have chosen 

 a better position than the one he took to make a display." 

 And similarly they interpret the movements of another 

 species — Deniryph antes capitatus — which has a bronze- 

 brown face, rendered conspicuous by snow-white bands. 

 The attitude he assumes when sexually excited is one 

 which seems, to them at any rate, to serve admirably 

 to expose this feature to the watchful female. But he 

 has other charms, and his " antics are repeated for a 

 very long time, often for hours ; when at last, the female, 

 either won by his beauty or worn out by his persistence, 

 accepts his addresses." Habrocestum splendens — un- 

 happily these creatures have no names in common speech 

 — possesses an abdomen of a magnificent purplish red, and 

 the attitude which he assumes at courtship they regard 

 as one designed to display this to the full. Another 

 case of quite remarkable interest is that of Astia vittata, 

 because the males appear to be dimorphic. That is 

 to say, they appear under two quite distinct forms, the 

 one red, like the female; and the other black, with three 

 tufts of hair just behind the head. The attitudes and 

 the movements of courtship, it is significant to remark. 



