1974] 
Kovner & Knost — Wrapping of Prey 
409 
Our field and laboratory observations are in agreement with the 
general idea expressed above — L. rabida and L. punctulata are 
adapted for spending a significant part of their life in the herbaceous 
stratum, rather than being, like most lycosids, ground-dwellers. 
(Obviously, stratum selection may vary during the life of an in- 
dividual under different conditions, both external (temperature, 
humidity, wind, etc.) and internal (hunger, sexual state, etc.)). A 
difference between the species in regard to habitat or stratum selec- 
tion, suggested by some authors, was not examined by us, but might 
be revealed by quantitative field and laboratory studies. The rela- 
tively longer legs of L. rabida suggests a greater adaptation to the 
herbaceous stratum than that of L. punctulata, as does the stronger 
tendency of L. rabida to wrap prey. 
While these lycosids are often seen running about, perhaps mi- 
grating from one habitat to another in response to micro-climatic 
conditions, or perhaps merely reacting to the collector’s movements, 
most of their time is probably spent at rest on the foliage. This 
seemed to be the case in the field, and was certainly the situation in 
the artificial habitat. As has been noted elsewhere (Edgar, 1969), 
lycosid spiders generally remain motionless and wait for their prey 
to come within reach. Like the web-weaving spiders, the wandering 
spiders of the herbaceous stratum are resting on a medium that pro- 
vides effective transmission of vibrational cues from the prey. 
Function of prey-wrapping. — We hypothesize that post-immo- 
bilization prey-wrapping in L. rabida and L. punctulata is a be- 
havioral adaptation for life in the herbaceous stratum. It reduces 
the possibility of losing the prey items when the spider releases them 
from its cheliceral grasp between bouts of feeding. The spider may 
release its grasp to make an additional capture, to groom, to drink, 
or to locate another point on the prey’s body for further feeding. 
Also, when startled by another animal or by shaking of the sub- 
stratum due to wind, the spider’s momentary release of the prey 
would often result in its loss. No such problem exists for ground- 
dwelling forms. 
Our hypothesis is supported by the absence of wrapping after the 
capture of small prey, which are easily held in the chelicerae and 
ingested in a relatively short time. It appears, then, that post-immo- 
bilization wrapping serves the same primary function in wandering 
spiders as it does in web-weavers — to prevent the prey from dropping 
to the ground from the spider’s elevated location. Also, it is im- 
portant when multiple prey are captured by a wandering spider, 
