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PEARSE. 



chela was not seen to be used as a club as Alcock ('92, p. 416) 

 maintains, but often served as a shield to ward off a thrust. 

 If a male got the worst of an encounter, he often retreated into 



Fig. 5. — Fiddlers defending their burrows. 



his burrow and guarded it by extending his large chela from 

 the opening (fig. 5) . Sometimes one male caught another nap- 

 ping and entered his burrow. In such cases the owner waited 

 nervously about until the intruder came out and then chased 

 him away, or he boldly went down after the stranger with his 

 large chela extended before him and usually emerged soon after 

 followed by the intruder. Males were not infrequently seen 

 standing at "attention" on some elevation (fig. 6) , for as much 





Fig. 6. — Uca forcipata standing at "attention." Dr 



from a photograph. 



as ten or fifteen minutes without moving. The writer was not 

 able to determine the purpose of such actions. Perhaps these 

 individuals were awaiting a mate, or an opportunity to fight. 



