1971] 
Kovner — W olf Spiders 
155 
Fig. 4. Palpless male Lycosa rabida disoriented from the normal position 
and using his black legs I to perform elements of courtship display while 
above the female in copula. 
Disorientation was shown by most of the males which lacked the 
use of both palps (due to modification of the males). In this be- 
havior the male pivoted on the female’s carapace in a clockwise or 
counter-clockwise direction and temporarily adopted a position other 
than the normal one. The most typical and most prolonged abnormal 
position was that in which the male was 180 0 out of proper align- 
ment, i.e., facing in the same direction as the female (Fig. 3). The 
next most common abnormal position was one of 90° mis-alignment, 
i.e., the male’s longitudinal axis perpendicular to that of the female. 
As “copulation” progressed, the male adopted positions even further 
removed from the normal one by locating himself above the basal 
segments of the female’s legs on one side (Fig. 4). While in the 
various abnormal positions, the male spent much of his time in 
courtship display. 
Whether in the normal position or disoriented 180°, males lack- 
ing the use of both palps (due to modification of the males) showed 
bouts of rapid, oscillatory movements, in which the male either 
shifted from side to side or slid forward and back while above the 
female’s carapace. Such bouts of activity were variable in duration, 
on the average lasting 6.8 sec (N = 140). During these excited 
