152 
Psyche 
[September 
LEAN 
SWIVEL ABDOMEN 
co 
LU 
K 
c n 
o 
CL 
CL 
o 
o 
H 
=F V 
V. 
SCRAPE PALP 
I 
ENGAGE EMBOLUS 
I 
HEMATODOCHAL EXPANSION 
I 
HEMATODOCHAL COLLAPSE 
I 
REMOVE EMBOLUS 
1 
MOISTEN SAME PALP 
4 
MOISTEN BOTH PALPS 
J 
Fig. 2. Sequence of events associated with each palpal insertion during 
copulation in Lycosa rahida. 
summarized in Fig. 2. Some of the mechanisms associated with these 
events were suggested by the findings of the present study. Specific 
questions that I was asking were these : ( i ) Given that the palps 
serve for transfer of sperm, how essential is sensory information 
from the palps to the maintenance of the male’s copulatory state? 
(2) Given that the palps may be aiding in a. sensory capacity to 
locate a target, the female’s epigynal openings, is information from 
the palps important for the male’s orientation on the female? (3) 
Does the pattern of right-left alternation persist after unilateral mod- 
ification of the male, or will the spider learn to favor the functioning 
palp? (4) What stimulus determines which palp is moistened first 
after each insertion? (5) What action by the male elicits abdominal 
swiveling in the female? 
Methods 
Over one hundred individuals of L. rahida were collected as im- 
mature instars during June, 1968, in a field near Athens, Ohio, 
