1977] 
Tietjen — Dragline- Following by Spiders 
171 
found between the pooled 1974 data and those for 1976 males 
(x 2 = 0.34, df = 1, P > .70). In order to have a larger data base 
the data were pooled for both years. 
Unlike male L. rabida, male L. punctulata initiated dragline- 
following at ground lines and appeared to use their palps in a 
manner similar to chemoexploratory behavior. Male L. punctulata 
rarely examined isolated male lines or imitation lines; of 16 that 
did palpate these lines, none followed them (Table I). Males ex- 
hibited a positive polarity (\ 2 = 4.33, df — 1, P< .05), and traveled 
a greater distance in the correct direction along the female trail 
(Wilcoxon test, T= 255.5, P < .03). 
Males that courted during dragline-following showed no corre- 
lation between courtship latency and distance followed (Pearson’s 
r, r = + .700, P > .90). No difference in distance followed was 
found between males that courted during dragline-following and 
those that did not (Mann-Whitney test, T— 93.0, P> .58). Court- 
ship latency of males placed on a female substratum was affected 
after dragline-following; those which had recently followed a drag- 
line exhibited a mean courtship latency of 0.66 ± .29 min (N = 23) 
compared with 2.30 ± 0.25 min (N = 20) for those which had not 
(Mann-Whitney test, T— 52.0, P< .0001). 
COURTSHIP RESPONSES TO VARIOUS TYPES OF SILK 
Male L. rabida courted in response to silk in a female cage in 
50% of the trials. Courtship latency in response to female silk was 
2.30 ± .25 min. The incidence of courtship in response to female 
silk differed from the courtship frequency in response to a clean 
cage, lepidopteran silk and male L. rabida silk (x“ = 33.99, df = 3, 
P < .001). The incidence of courtship did not differ among the 
latter three conditions (x 2 — 2.05, df = 2, P> .70). (Table II). 
Male L. punctulata courted in response to female conspecific 
silk in 61.1% of the trials and exhibited a mean courtship latency 
of 2.55 min ± .44 min. The incidence of courtship in response to 
female conspecific silk, female L. rabida silk, lepidopteran silk, a 
clean cage and male L. punctulata silk differed significantly (x 2 — 
35.93, df — 4, P< .001), while courtship frequency did not differ 
among the latter four test conditions (x 2 — 2.10, df =3, P> .50). 
To simulate the effects of dew under natural conditions, silk 
trails of females of both species were sprayed with a fine mist of 
distilled water and were air dried (= washed lines). Draglines so 
