1964] 
JVLcCrone and Levi — Latrodectus 
19 
Figs. 14, 15. Latrodectus bishopi Kaston, mating position. Male black, 
female in outline. Web supporting the spiders not shown. 
Within the scrub, L. bishopi almost always makes its webs 30 cm 
or higher off the ground in the palmetto bushes, Serenoa repens and 
Sabal etonia (Fig. 24). The spider makes its web retreat by taking a 
frond of the palmetto and rolling it into a cone. The interior of the 
cone is lined with silk and the egg sacs are hung from the sides of the 
cone (Fig. 25). The egg sacs are light gray to white in color and 
have a fairlv soft texture unlike those of L. tnactans and L. variolus, 
which are brown and papery (Figs. 18-20). Often a mature male is 
found in the cone-shaped retreat with the female. There is little 
difference in the sizes of the sexes and a small silk partition usually 
separates them. The outer threads of the web spread from frond to 
frond of the palmettos and form a sheet-like pattern. The web is 
completely free of insect remains in contrast to those of L. mactans 
and L. variolus , which are heavily festooned with them. The reason 
for this may be that L. bishopi feeds only on very softbodied insects or 
ejects the remains from the web. The developing spiderlings remain 
in the parental web until they are half-grown whether the mother is 
still alive or not. 
The courtship and copulatory behavior of L. bishopi have been 
observed in the laboratory in Cambridge. A male was placed with an 
adult female on 22 March 1963 at 7:00 A. M. Ten minutes later 
their legs were 1 cm apart and the male’s abdomen jerked three times. 
