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THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XLIV 



shaking by her signalling, and by drawing these web 

 lines taut he feels her movements all the more distinctly; 

 he approaches gradually nearer her, guided by her 

 signalling, and finally makes a short rush toward her." 

 The female often seems insatiable, even leaving food at 

 times to approach the male, and the courtship is largely 

 on her part, by signalling. 



Similar signalling by the female was noticed by me 

 in Teutana triangulosa Wolck. During the past summer 

 I watched the process in Theridium froadeum Htz., where 

 the female signals, and the male responds in the same 

 way ; the female had her rear turned towards him so that 

 she could not possibly see him; in one case a female 

 signalled to another female. In the case of the tiny 

 Cera&inopsis interpres Emert. I placed two males and 

 a female together in a vial, where they spun a maze of 

 lines in a short time, but I observed quite a different 

 approach of the males. The female does not appear to 

 signal, but the male makes a quick rush at her, and taps 

 her rapidly with his legs until she becomes submissive 

 with contracted legs. A male acts towards her as he 

 would to another male, seemingly aggressive, until she 

 becomes immobile; they find one another by touch com- 

 municated along the web lines, not by sight. 



In the Epeirids a number of genera have been studied. 

 In Pachygnatha listen Menge (1866) saw the male seize 

 with his chelicera those of the female. In Argiope (Peck- 

 ham 1889, McCook 1890, Emerton 1883) the male courts 

 the female by pulling the radii of her snare, and she 

 responds in the same way. "If matters be favorable, 

 the male draws nearer, usually by short approaches, re- 

 newing the signals at the bolting places. Sometimes 

 this preliminary stay is brief; sometimes it is greatly 

 prolonged" (McCook). In the case of Acrosoma gracile 

 Walck. I dropped (1903) a male upon the web of a female, 

 and as soon as he touched her (within five minutes) he 

 copulated ; no special courtship was seen. In the genus 

 Epeira the approaches of the male are well known from 



