1964] 
]\lcCrone and Levi — Latrodectus 
21 
right palpus was inserted and withdrawn after four minutes. The 
male then rested behind the female, vibrating his abdomen. Soon he 
moved anteriorly and shook the web. At 8 :02 he inserted the left pal- 
pus. Both animals were quiet, then the male moved its legs and shook 
both the web and the female. After 1 1 minutes the left palpus was 
withdrawn; it was pulled back about 2 mm while the embolus 
stretched like a pulled-out watch spring and then suddenly snapped 
back (apparently the distal portion broke off, see Abalos, et. al. 1963). 
The male again moved behind the female, boxed her epigynum, vi- 
brated his abdomen and jerked the female. At 8:31 he seemed to 
introduce the right palpus again, then moved back, boxed her abdomen 
and palpated her sternum with his palpus. At 8:37 he inserted the 
right palpus again and pulled back slightly (Figs. 14, 15). After 
insertion all was quiet except that the male occasionally moved his 
legs and jerked the female. At 9:07, 30 minutes later, the palpus was 
withdrawn 3-4 mm with the embolus again stretching. Suddenly it 
snapped back and the male moved behind the female. At 9 113 he began 
boxing the epigynum and vibrating his abdomen. Alternately with 
boxing the epigynum he cleaned his palpi against each other and the 
chelicerae. After this the male moved 2 cm in front of the female. 
At 9:22 the glass was accidentally jarred and the male and female 
moved off in opposite directions. 
Latrodectus variolas is found in mesic and xeric deciduous forests 
and is particularly abundant in Torreya State Park in northwest 
Florida. There the adults make their webs in trees, 3 to 20 feet off 
the ground (Fig. 28). They build dome-shaped retreats in the leaves 
at the ends of branches and the outer threads of the web radiate out 
from the retreat to the surrounding branches. The females and any 
egg sacs are usually found in the retreat. The webs contain many 
insect remains, primarily those of large flying insects such as cicadas. 
During March and April large numbers of immature L. variolas 
are found at the bases of stumps in mixed forest litter. In the sum- 
mer, however, the adults are found in the trees. The migration up 
into the branches has not been observed. 
In Wisconsin, L. variolas has been collected from Baxter’s Hollow 
in Sauk County and Wildcat Mountain in Vernon County. Both 
are natural undisturbed forest areas. On Wildcat Mountain a spider 
was found in a hollow stump. Michigan collecting labels of Dr. A. 
M. Chickering indicate localities in Ott Biological Preserve, in Cal- 
houn County, Douglas Lake in Cheboygan County and dry hardwood 
and oak-hickory in Barry County. 
