868 The American Naturalist. [September, 
When a male is put into a vessel with a female he seems ere long to 
become aware of the presence of the female and does not act as he does 
when males only are present. The female generally retreats and may 
even resist the attacks of the male, but generally this is not done with 
much vigor, and very soon after being seized by the male the female 
passes into a state of passivity, resembling death. The male advances 
eagerly to the female and grasps her with his large claws, sometimes 
gently. When the female struggles to escape, the male holds very 
firmly by one of his claws that grasps a claw, or an antenna, or any 
projecting part of the head region of the female, and eventually suc- 
ceeds in turning her upon her back ; if there is no struggle, the same 
result is also accomplished more directly and methodically. The male 
now seizes all the claws of the female in his two large claws, three in 
each on each side and holds them firmly as seen in Figs. 1 and 2. He 
Fic. 1. re 
moves forward over the supine female into the position shown in the 
figures. This process has lasted ten to twenty minutes. It is followed 
by a most unexpected move: the male stands up away from the female, 
holding the claws as before, and deliberately passes one leg across under 
his body so that it projects from the opposite side. He then settles 
down again close to the female. The leg that is passed over is one of 
the fifth, most posterior, pair of walking legs. In the figures it is the 
left leg; it seems to be absent on the left side, Fig. 1, but projects 
straight out and backward between the fourth and fifth on the right 
side, Fig. 2. In many cases the right leg is used: in one case the leg 
projected between the third and fourth instead of between the fourth 
and fifth as usual. 
