168 ASSOCIATION OF ORGANISMS THE WEB OF LIFE 



a minute, he struggling. At last he freed himself and ran away." 

 Only to come back again, however, for we read that: " This same 

 male after a time courted her successfully ". Tragic courtships 

 were also observed, as in the case of a particularly ruthless female 

 (of Phidippus morsitans) who behaved thus: " The two males 

 that we provided for her had offered her only the merest civilities, 

 when she leaped upon them and killed them ". 



In one remarkable species (Astia vittatd] the female is red, 

 and there are two kinds of male, red and black respectively, which 

 court in different ways (fig. 1122). When they are rivals, black 

 is invariably the winning colour. 



It has been suggested that the small size and great activity 

 of male spiders are adaptations which to some extent reduce the 

 appalling dangers of courtship. In leaving this group the writer 

 ventures to express a hope that many field naturalists may feel 

 moved to observe the habits of common native forms on the lines 

 so successfully followed by Dr. and Mrs. Peckham, in this and 

 other fields (see p. 55). Anything approaching the skill and 

 devotion of these investigators, applied to the study of almost 

 any species, would most assuredly yield a rich harvest of valuable 

 results. 



COURTSHIP AND MATING OF CRUSTACEANS 



(CRUSTACEA) 



Comparatively little is known about the love affairs of the 

 higher members of this group, which deserves far more attention 



in this matter than has so far 

 been bestowed upon it. It 

 will perhaps suffice here to 

 quote an exceedingly interest- 

 ing account which is given by 

 Alcock (in A Naturalist in 

 Indian Seas] of a little Fiddler 

 Crab (Gelasimus annulipes, fig. 



Fig. 1123. Indian Fiddler Crab (Gelasimus annuities). I I 2 l), which is VCrV abundant 



Female on left; male on right o/> ' 



on the mud-flats at the mouths 



of the Godavari and Kistna. The pincers of the female are small, 

 and only used in feeding, but in the male one of them is of great 

 size and bright pink in colour, serving as an ornament and also 

 as a weapon. Alcock thus describes the courtship of these little 



