408 
Psyche 
[September-December 
usually was performed at the capture site and therefore was carried 
out in all planes, including the vertical. The spiders behaved on 
sloping leaves and vertical stems in a manner similar to that seen on 
the horizontal cage floors; however, pivoting was slower on the 
narrow surfaces, apparently due to the spider’s having to seek foot- 
holds as it revolved “above” the prey (Fig. 6). 
In some cases, we intentionally disturbed the spider before or 
after prey-wrapping. In the former situation, the prey sometimes 
was released from the chelicerae and dropped to a lower leaf or to 
the ground. On the other hand, if wrapping already had occurred, 
they prey did not 'fall from the capture site when released from the 
chelicerae, even on a vertical surface. When multiple prey were 
wrapped on a sloping surface, they : ( i ) remained together rather 
than roll apart and (2) hung at the wrapping site rather than drop 
to the ground, when the spider was chased away. 
A further bit of evidence for the adaptedness of L. rabida to the 
herbaceous stratum was provided later by the construction of a 
“shelter web” (about 50 mm 3 ) and, within it, an egg sac (infertile) 
by a female on a nearly horizontal leaf 0.13 m above the ground in 
the artificial habitat. 
Discussion 
Preference for herbaceous stratum. — S. crassipes is well-known 
as an inhabitant o'f woodland leaf-litter (Kaston^ 1948; Fitch, 1963) ; 
indeed, lycosids are generally regarded as ground-dwellers (Lowrie, 
1968). However, L. rabida and L. punctulata can be collected by 
sweeping grass and shrubs (Kaston, 1948). Kuenzler (1958) also 
found L. rabida on the lower trunk and branches of trees in open 
woodland. Whitcomb et al. (1963) describe finding L. rabida in 
cotton fields on the ground during the day, but at night “. . . half- 
way up the cotton stalks feeding on bollworm or cabbage looper 
moths . . .” as well as on noctuid moths. At night, Eason and 
Whitcomb (1965) collected 80% of their specimens of L. rabida 
2/3 m or more above the ground in tall grass and bushes. 
According to Eason and Whitcomb (1965), " L . punctulata is 
mostly captured on or near the ground, since it has less tendency to 
climb into bushes than does L. rabida ” While finding both species 
in grassland, Fitch (1963) reported that L. punctulata preferred 
“. . . relatively open or barren situations as compared to L. rabida , 
which prefers a tail-grass habitat.” Kaston (1948) stated simply 
that both species have the same habits. 
