34 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



courtship of Epeira diademata : The male approaches little by little with 



much caution, doubtful of the reception which he is to meet in the web 



of the female, who occupies the centre, intent only on her prey. He 



commences by touching with one leg a thread of her web. The 



f^TV 3 female approaches him. He flies, allowing himself to hang by 



demata a dropline. Soon he reascends, being assured in some way that 



he will not be ill received. Then he approaches his mate, and 



with one of the palps touches her abdomen quickly many times. 1 



The pairing of the Diadem spider is also described by Menge. 2 The male 

 accomplishes his approach to the female by means of a strong thread fast- 

 ened immediately above her, which thread is, in fact, the strongest 

 Meng-e s ^^ j^ S p ms This becomes his love bridge, over which he passes 

 with trembling and uncertainty as to his reception, his feet ex- 

 pressing both invitation and fear. If his reception is friendly, 

 he passes under the body of the female, with his fore feet folded to allow 

 her expanded feet to encircle his, while their faces and partly their breasts 

 touch. He now quickly touches the vulva of the female with his palps, 

 and instantly drops to the ground by a thread ; however, he soon returns, 

 and the deposition of the semen is continued until finished. During Sep- 

 tember, one year, Menge observed a male thus approach a female about 

 twenty times. Finally he caught the ovipositor or hook of the vulva, de- 

 taining the same and turning so that the two abdomens and their adjoin- 

 ing parts touched, and the posterior parts of the same were no longer sep- 

 arated, but pressed closely together. The connection continued for over a 

 minute, when the male dropped backwards to the ground, and remained 

 there for some time as if dead. 



Menge also observed the pairing of Epeira marmorea on a warm August 



evening. The female left her web and advanced towards the male. The 



movements of the latter were very careful, and when sufficiently 



close he touched the vulva of the female in passing, and instantly 



morea withdrew. As the female remained quiet and did not attack him, 



the act was renewed the second and third time. The -third time 



the female retired to her dwelling, and the male dropped down by a thread. 



The pairing of Tetragnatha extensa has been described by several writers. 



Lister, the pioneer of English arachnology, says that May 25th at sunset 



he saw the pairing of many spiders of this species. The two 



,, sexes were suspended by means of a thread placed upon their 



tensa webs. The male was below, having his body stretched upon a 



straight line. The body of the female, on the contrary, was 



doubled, and her abdomen touched the fore part of the abdomen of the 



male. He continually thrust a little horn, remarkable by its tubercle, upon 



1 Translation of Prof. Wilder. Proceedings Essex Institute, Vol. V., pages 71-3. 



2 See Prussian Spiders, under Epeira diademata. 



