ONTOGENY OF DISPLAY IN IMMATURE 
SCHIZOCOSA CRASSIPES (ARANEAE: LYCOSIDAE) 
By Wayne P. Aspey 1 
Department of Zoology and Microbiology, 
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701 
Most studies dealing broadly with behavioral ontogeny in spiders 
have been concerned with orb-weaving (Witt and Baum, 1960; 
LeGuelte, 1969; Peters, 1969; Reed, Witt, Scarboro and Peakall, 
1970). However, relatively little attention has been directed to 
the ontogeny of display. Immature lycosid spiderlings do not ex- 
hibit the complex stereotyped displays typical of adult wolf spiders 
during courtship (Rovner, 1968) or agonistic encounters (Aspey, 
1974, 1975). Crane (1949) reported that several species of imma- 
ture salticid spiders occasionally performed abortive displays, but she 
considered such displays exceptions to the rule. Rovner (1968) 
looked unsuccessfully for courtship display in penultimate male 
Lycosa rabida; the tendency to court did not appear until several 
days after the final molt. The first study of display ontogeny in 
spiders was that of Dijkstra (1968, in Koomans et al., 1974), which 
was expanded by Koomans, van der Ploeg and Dijkstra (1974) who 
observed a characteristic “leg wave behavior” in a variety of sub- 
adult Pardosa spp. This behavior was observed from the second 
instar to the adult molt in P. lugubris and P. nigriceps, and de- 
creased in frequency with concomitant increases in courtship. 
In considering the functional significance of leg wave behavior, 
Koomans et al. (1974) suggested that courtship replaced the be- 
havior in adult males, while in adult females, the behavior was 
probably replaced by specific reactions to courtship. Dijkstra (1968, 
in Koomans et al., 1974) observed similar leg movements in juvenile 
P. amentata , but the behavior was not restricted to courtship situ- 
ations. Van der Ploeg (personal communication) has observed leg 
waving in immature P. purbeckensis in the field. Similarly, I had 
observed (Aspey, 1974) that both male and female Schizocosci 
crassipes (Walckenaer) exhibit a characteristic leg wave display as 
juveniles. 
1 Present address: Comparative Neurobiology Group, The Marine Bio- 
medical Institute, The University of Texas Medical Branch, 200 University 
Boulevard, Galveston, Texas 77550. 
Manuscript received by the editor August 18, 1975 . 
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