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[June 
containing males were located on shelves along one wall of the 
laboratory that received indirect sunlight. Laboratory humidity 
was not controlled (range 36-56% RH) and temperature ranged 
from 23-28° C. Cages containing females were placed in a con- 
trolled environmental chamber (Frease model 818) at 15°C night 
and 20° C day and 53-56% RH, with a photoperiod approximating 
natural conditions. The lower temperatures were necessary to re- 
tard female development and to delay onset of eggsac production, 
which even occurs eventually in unmated females, making them 
useless for further experimentation. Females were removed from 
the environmental chamber and allowed sufficient time to warm to 
room temperature before experimental use. 
In order to lay draglines along predetermined trails spiders were 
anesthetized with CCF. A thread leash, secured to a hemostat, was 
tied around the cephalothorax of each spider between the second 
and third pairs of legs. Upon recovery, the spider was led along a 
path such that the dragline was laid either directly on the sub- 
stratum to form “ground lines” or suspended above the substratum 
by being laid across horizontally placed glass rods to form “aerial 
lines” (Fig. 1). Lines connecting parts of an artificial plant made 
of wood dowels were also called “aerial lines.” Male draglines or 
imitation draglines (nylon thread or human hair) were laid in either 
a continuous or discontinuous manner with the female trail during 
some experiments. 
The test trail was then surrounded by glass walls to provide an 
arena (54 X 64 cm), the position of which was rotated in a random 
manner between experimental runs. The position, length, and direc- 
tion of the dragline, including attachment disks (produced by the 
spider to fix the dragline to a substratum) were recorded on a dia- 
gram of the completed path. 
Test males were of two physiological conditions: (1) unprimed 
males, which had not encountered female silk for the previous 72 
hr and (2) primed males, which were induced to court in response 
to substratum silk from a female cage, and then tested 1 hr later 
for dragline-following behavior. Experimental trials began when a 
male released into the arena contacted and explored a female line 
with his palps. Trials lasted for 5 min, during which time data were 
recorded in shorthand notation from a distance of 0.5- 1.0 m from 
the experimental males. To test the response of males to various 
types of silk, males were released into cages containing either lepi- 
