1 75 '°^^ '" ^^^ desert 



First he spins a sort of web into which he deposits a few 

 drops of sperm. Then he patiently taps the web for a pe- 

 riod of about two hours in order to fill with the sperm the 

 two special palps or mouth parts which he did not acquire 

 until the molt which announced his maturity. Then, and 

 only then, does he go off in search of his "mystic and som- 

 ber Dolores" who will never exhibit toward him any ten- 

 der emotions. 



If, as is often the case, she shows at first no awareness 

 of his presence, he will give her a few slaps until she rears 

 angrily with her fangs spread for a kill. At this moment he 

 then plays a trick which nature, knowing the disposition 

 of his mate, has taught him and for which nature has pro- 

 vided a special apparatus. He slips two spurs conveniently 

 placed on his forelegs over the fangs of the female, in 

 such a way that the fangs are locked into immobility. 

 Then he transfers the sperm w^hich he has been carrying 

 into an orifice in the female, unlocks her fangs and darts 

 away. If he is successful in making his escape, he may re- 

 peat the process with as many as three other females. But 

 by this time he is plainly senile and he slowly dies, pre- 

 sumably satisfied that his life work has been accom- 

 plished. Somewhat unfairly, the female may live for a 

 dozen more years and use up several husbands. In gen- 

 eral outline the procedure is the same for many spiders, 

 but it seems worse in him, because he is big enough to be 

 conspicuous. 



It is said that when indiscreet birdbanders announced 

 their discovery that demure little house vvrens commonly 

 swap mates between the first and second of their summer 



