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 (Astza vittata) 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 
Lndian Seas) of a little Fiddler 
Crab (Gelasimus annulipes, fig. 
Hig) due Tadian THialee Crab ioleacaielie 115), which is Very abundant 
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 
