1971] 
Kovner — Wolf Spiders 
1 6 1 
ter = i hr). Males having both palps fixed dorsad tended to remain 
on the female an average of 2 hr. (N = 5). 
The data presented in Tables I and II reflected in some cases the 
influence of variables other than those suggested by the type of ex- 
perimental treatment. A few of the males with one palp unavailable 
were unable to achieve insertion with the remaining palp. As the 
hematodocha approached maximal expansion, a drop of hemolymph 
issued from some point in or near the palpal tarsus. This drop, 
roughly having a diameter as great or greater than the width of the 
palpal tarsus, was then sucked up by the male. In such cases the 
male performed only a few insertions and thereafter behaved as did 
males lacking the use of both palps. (Although such a malfunction 
seemed to be related to the presence in such males of only one usable 
palp, I later observed such a “leaking palp” in a normal male.) 
Level of activity in the female was another variable in these ex- 
periments. In the majority of pairings, the females remained inactive 
(except for abdominal swiveling) throughout copulation. However, 
a few females initiated periods of locomotor activity (including car- 
rying the male to another part of the arena), particularly those fe- 
males whose partners had both palps unavailable. The frequency or 
duration of various behaviors in the male may have been influenced 
by such behavior in the female. 
Discussion 
Sensory information from the palps was important for maintenance 
of the male’s copulatory state. While mounted on the female, males 
unable to use one or both palps (due to modification of the male) 
performed courtship displays and bouts of tying down. In normal 
males proprioceptive feedback from insertions probably reduced the 
likelihood that the male would switch back to an earlier behavior, 
courtship display, or switch to an out-of-context behavior, tying down. 
(A behavior similar to tying down sometimes occurred in normal, 
solitary individuals in response to recently captured large prey such 
as adult field crickets, Gryllidae.) It is unlikely that tying down 
served to facilitate the male’s post-copulatory escape, in that : ( 1 ) fe- 
males were only slightly, if at all, hindered by the few threads of 
silk; and (2) normal males did not employ any such device during 
mating but did use a cheliceral pinch at the time of dismounting to 
aid in escape (Rovner, in press). 
Among normal males paired with females having one or both 
copulatory pores sealed, three males showed courtship and none, 
tying down. Thus, even though unable to insert one or both palps, 
these males generally did not switch to inappropriate behaviors nor 
