MATING HABITS 



379 



Fig. 



the sperm matured in the abdomen was a problem which has 



only been solved comparatively recently. No direct connection 



could be found by way of the palpus with the abdominal organs, 



which, indeed, were seen to have an 



orifice between the lung -sacs. It is 



now known that some spiders at all 



events spin a slight web upon which 



they deposit a drop of spermatic fluid, 



which they afterwards absorb into their 



palpal organs for transference to the 



female. Secondary sexual differences 



are often very marked, the male being 



almost invariably the smaller in body, 



though its legs are frequently longer 



and more powerful than those of the 



female. 



Among some of the sedentary spiders 

 the disparity in size is excessive. The 

 most striking examples are furnished 

 by the Epeirid genera Argiope and 

 JVephila, the male in some instances 

 not attaining more than the thousandth part of the mass of the 

 female. The coloration of the sexes is frequently quite dissimilar, 

 the male being usually the darker, though in the Attidae he is 

 in many cases the more strikingly ornamented. 



In the minute Theridiid spiders of the group Erigoniuae (see 

 p. 404), the male cephalothorax often presents remarkable and 

 characteristic excrescences not observable in the female. Some 

 curious examples of this phenomenon may be seen in Fig. 209. 



To the ordinary observer male spiders will appear to be com- 

 paratively rare, and to be greatly outnumbered by the females. 

 This is probably to some degree true, but the unsettled habits of 

 the males and the shorter duration of their life are calculated to 

 give an exaggerated impression of their rarity. They only appear 

 in considerable numbers at the mating season, shortly after which 

 the males, in the case of many species, may be sought for in vain, 

 as, after performing their functions, they quickly die. The snares 

 they spin are often rudimentary, their capabilities in this direction 

 appearing to deteriorate after the adult form is attained. Young 

 spiders of indistinguishable sex make perfect snares on a small 



198. — Argiope aurelia, i and 

 9 , natural size. 



