i82 COLOUR IN NATURE chap. 



Lepidoptera between white, yellow, and red pigments, 

 but exact observations have still to be made. 



Sexual Coloration. — As to the colours of the sexes, 

 the careful observations of Mr. and Mrs. Peckham 

 have familiarised us with the fact that the males are 

 not infrequently more brightly coloured than the 

 females, the bright colours being especially marked 

 on those regions of the body which are most fully 

 displayed during the antics of courtship. The males 

 are not, however, invariably brighter than the females. 

 Thus in Nephila plumipes the male is dull brown and 

 small, the female has a jet-black cephalothoracic 

 region largely covered with silvery hairs, while the 

 abdomen is an olive -brown colour tending to light 

 yellow above and with yellow and white spots and 

 stripes. The legs are yellow with dull red rings, 

 several of the joints being furnished with plumose 

 tufts. This is an interesting case, because if the 

 colours and ornamental tufts had been present in the 

 male, they would have been certainly ascribed to 

 sexual selection. As it is, male spiders are asserted 

 on all sides to prefer amiability to beauty, so that 

 such an explanation is hardly valid. 



Markings of Spiders. — The Icist characteristic of 

 the coloration of spiders which we must consider is 

 the beauty and complexity of the markings. These 

 markings tend especially to occur on the abdomen, 

 where they are usually very complex ; the cephalo- 

 thorax is usually more uniform, but the legs not in- 

 frequently display bands of colour of a deeper tint 

 than that of their ground-colour. The abdominal 

 markings often take a leaf-like Shape, as, for example, 

 is well seen in the " folia " which give its specific 



