No. 1.] SEXUAL SELECTION IN SPIDERS. 69 



the coloring of the males. Mr. "Wallace's theory would only 

 partially explain these facts since although the increased vital- 

 ity at the breeding season might produce variations which 

 would tend to be inherited at that age, the assumption with 

 which he starts out — that the male animal is constitutionally 

 more active than the female — is not true in regard to spiders. 



While studying the secondary sexual characteristics of 

 spiders we came upon several large groups of facts which seem 

 entirely inconsistent with Mr. Wallace's view. First, we found 

 no evidence that the male spiders possess greater vital activity ; 

 on the contrary, it is the female that is the more active and 

 pugnacious of the two. Second, we found no relation, in either 

 sex, between development of color and activity ; the Lycosidx, 

 which are among the most active of all spiders, having the 

 least color development, while the sedentary orb- weavers show 

 the most brilliant hues. Third, we found that in the numerous 

 cases where the male differed from the female by brighter colors 

 and ornamental appendages, these adornments were not only 

 so placed as to be in full view of the female during courtship, 

 but that the attitudes and antics of the male spider at that time 

 were actually such as to display them to the fullest extent 

 possible. Moreover, we noticed that the males were much more 

 quarrelsome in the presence of the females, and that they, to a 

 great extent, lost their tendency to fight when the mating 

 season was over. 



With these facts in mind let us examine Mr. Wallace's two 

 strongest objections to the theory of sexual selection. 



First : " There is a total absence of any evidence that the 

 females admire or even notice the display of the males. 

 Among butterflies there is literally not one particle of evidence 

 that the female is influenced by color or even that she has any 

 power of choice, while there is much direct evidence to the con- 

 trary."^ In butterflies and in birds, with their rapid flight, it is 

 difficult to determine how much one sex is watched by the 

 other ; but in the Attidse we have conclusive evidence that the 



1 Tropical Nature, pp. 199-200. 



