360 Alexandfr Petrunkevitch, 



Upon wliich senses is the preservation of tlie species dependent? 

 What instincts are made use of by Nature to the accomplishment 

 of this end? How do they originate in the individual? What is 

 the röle and the behaviour of the female? Is the entire act wholly 

 unconscious or does the behaviour change under the influence of 

 experience? These are the questions to which I endeavored to find 

 answers in the course of my observations and experiments. 



I owe the choice of Dugesiella lientsi as an object of investi- 

 gation to a happy chance. During my stay in Texas on the return 

 trip from Mexico, to which country I was sent by the American 

 Museum of Natural History to collect arachnida, I had the pleasure 

 of meeting Professor Carl Haetmann. As I was unable at that 

 time to find tarantulas in Texas on account of the extreme dryness 

 of the season, I asked Prof. Haetmann to send me later some living 

 specimens. Through his kindness I received during May and June, 

 1910, over a score of individuals of Dugesiella hentsi from Huntsville, 

 Texas. Of these some died during transport, others arrived in a 

 condition of exhaustion that made experiments impossible. However, 

 3 females and 7 males reached me in perfect condition and these 

 were used exclusively during the whole course of the observations. 

 The males were all mature; so was one of the females and I am 

 unable to State deflnitely whether they had mated before they were 

 captured. As for the two immature females, they had cei'tainly not 

 been mated. 



It may be of interest to others to know the best method of 

 transport for the tarantulas. My experience showed that they sutfer 

 greatly for lack of water as well as from impact against the sides 

 of the box due to careless handling in the mail. The safest way 

 to express them is therefore to put each one in a wooden box of 

 small size, the walls, bottom and lid of which have been lined with 

 bath towelling, not glued but firnily tacked to the wood. The cloth 

 should be moistened before the tarantula is placed in the box. The 

 openings in the lid should be small and few. If they are big enough 

 for the tarantula to get its legs through, it will do so and will 

 break the tarsus or the whole leg. No moss or leaves should be 

 put with the tarantula since even light friction will destroy the 

 hairs on the dorsal surface of the abdomen, thus disfiguring the 

 specimen. The towelling aftbrds sufficient hold for the tarantula 

 and protects it against sudden bumps. Immediately upon arrival 

 water should be given in a little dish deep enough for the tarantula 



