1973] 
Ramousse — A raneus diadematus 
4i 
Mortality 
The mean mortality in each group was : 
set I set II 
FG 
1 6 1. 6 days post-hatching 
146.5 days post-hatching 
SG 
3 dead (mean 329.0 days 
post-hatching) 
3 still living (342.0 days 
post-hatching) 
308-6 days post-hatching 
The SG males lived significantly longer than the FG males (set I: 
T = 10, P — 0.01 ; set II: T gg 4, P = 0.05). Rapid growth 
occurs at the expense of endurance which is in agreement with the 
findings of Bonnet (1935), who found that the spiders’ lives short- 
ened with an increase in food supply, and the findings of Reed and 
Witt (1972), who found that the FG females of A raneus diade- 
matus lived shorter than the SG females. 
In our laboratory, the males matured from July 1972 to January 
1973. But in North America males of Araneus diadematus can only 
be found in September and early October in the Boston area, (Levi, 
1971) and in Southern France in August and September (Bonnet, 
1935). Nevertheless some authors found Araneus diadematus in the 
field during different seasons even in winter, Bertkau (1885) in 
Germany and Termeyer (1791) in Italy. Millot (1926) also ob- 
tained, in the laboratory, the survival of young Araneus diadematus 
during the winter; they completed their development the following 
spring. The biological cycle of Araneus diadematus varies according 
to the environmental conditions it goes through, and a low rate of 
feeding with the stable laboratory conditions could allow a longer 
lifespan for the spiders reared in the laboratory than in the field. 
In that case, the lengthening of the development merely emphasizes 
the difference betwen FG and SG animals. 
The FG males survived an average of 80 days after the last molt 
in set I and 71.4 days in set II. These males grew and built webs 
approximately half their lives, then sought out mates. We can note 
equivalent facts for the SG males with their relatively long time 
scale. 
