•iter iht penultimate moull. to re- 

 mind ct" sc 10 1,u ' m l,mi| ,ht " flB * 

 moult, and to m.ite with Ihcm directly 



\l 10 a.m the same morning the 

 hitlers wvic mating, the male's, right 

 -,,lp.il organ having heen inserted in 

 Z fcnukA epigvmim. (The mating 

 iirv .,„, of male spiders arc at the 

 J Qj [he two feelcrhke palps on 



iv tm\ of hc - ,J Tl,tf * BraWl 

 openings <tf ll0,r > ***** art 

 pn the abdomen, hut prior to mating 

 T#tc m; ,le transfers the sperm Hind 

 , nn , In-, uemtal opening In a special 

 sperm *vk tod »*W this web he 

 ,]r,|U- it up mto his palps.) 



||,c spiders faced in opposite 

 directions, ihc male standing partly 

 „ vC r ihe female. Her legs and cephalo- 

 iMn«( W«PC Qal against the cage wall. 

 h L r abdomen lilted upward at an 

 jnale. so that 'he ventral surface 

 coiiUl be reached h> the male's palp 

 The male's flexed right legs sli addled 

 rlie female's body. On the horizontal 

 plane, t'ne iwo spiders were angled 

 slightly to each other so that his 

 head «as lIos.t Id her than hers 

 was to him, 



I he lirst expansion of the male's 

 right palpal bulb lasted for two and 

 -,, half minutes During this time its 

 iiemhranoiis part, Ihc Iwertmuxhrlui. 

 was inflated in stages, with slight 

 Egp&GB it] between, like a balloon 

 heme blown up. until it was frilly 

 tupaiuled and visible as a ttanslucvnt. 

 Hriglil blue hubhle. 



Concurrently wiih each of these 

 nunor inflation*, the nude's leg spines, 

 wfnch normally lie 11*1, lOte to an 

 e -.vt pos.tion. and then fell. 'Thrw 

 faitfS .»t alternate erection and 

 Mutt increast-d in dnr.'imt from 

 about 6 scls. to uhmit I- seconds. 

 Ihv .aide ol the spines al the m;» 

 of the rise increased Wtt, lowatds 



ihc end ol the expansion period, they 

 rose at an angle of about 65 degrees 

 to Ihe surface of the leg. 



( In rbe billowing males I use the 

 terms "expansion'" and "rest'* to refer 

 lo ihe complete, overall rnllalion of 

 the litumniottinfia. accomplished in 

 stages and lasting for several min- 

 utes, and I Use the terms "erection'' 

 and 'pause" for each of Us com- 

 ponent stages of inllanon accompanied 

 by the rise and fall of Ihe leg spines. 

 The erection of the leg spines is 

 probably merely a result ol the huisi 

 of muscular activity, but it is con- 

 venient to use the term here lo 

 diMercntiaie between the total expan- 

 sion of Ihe hui'iiHiunhilHi. and the 

 Stages of nidation thai bring il about.) 



At 12 noon, expansion periods 

 were limed, and lasted approximately 

 _U mins., followed hy I ruin, rest 

 When expanded, the luiematodorhu 

 mils clearly visible extending on 

 cubei side of the palpal sheath. (The 

 technical term for this sheath is Ihc 

 ivmbiunr it is the more or less cup- 

 shaped lip of the palp, which partly 

 encloses or covers the palpal organ), 

 During rest periods it subsided more 

 nr less, but was usually still visible, 

 thouuh much reduced. At times it 

 subsided so completely that it was 

 hidden by the .sheath. On these occa- 

 sions the thin, dark coil of the 

 embolus (thlit part of the palpal 

 M$ait that aclually conveys Ihe 

 sperm lo Ihe female 1 could be seen 

 relaxing and partly returning into the 

 sheath, 



As Ihc liMinuiOilnchi) expanded, a 

 pmk. knobbed process emerged from 

 under the lop of the sheyth on the 

 rnnet side, and moved around below 

 the palp 10 appear on Ihe other side 

 the expanded bulb, il'uiiher 

 investigation might identify this pro- 

 cess irt this species ax ihc innduaar 

 ol the embolus > Ihc chehecrae were 



.September. 1971 



745 



