1988] Deyrup, Cronin, & Kurczewski — Allochares 277 
and remained that color. We eventually discovered that the white 
cocoons turned brown rapidly when placed in a saturated atmos- 
phere. In natural situations the cocoons are likely to be exposed to 
high humidity, and we do not consider this color change to have any 
adaptive significance. 
The adult emerges 35 to 60 days after cocoon formation, cutting a 
narrow slit almost encircling the anterior end of the cocoon. The cap 
usually remains attached to the cocoon after emergence. 
Mating 
Virgin females are willing to hunt and paralyze spiders, though 
they do not always oviposit. Eggs of virgin females appear to pro- 
duce normal larvae, which develop into adult males. It appears that 
unmated females pass on their genes through production of at least 
a few male offspring, though it is not known whether unmated 
females are likely to occur in nature. 
Virgin females placed outdoors attracted males; a total of 9 males 
were attracted to caged females. We have not seen males on the 
outside of the building where we placed the females, and it seems 
clear that the males are attracted by pheromones. When a male is 
caged with a virgin female, he runs rapidly about the cage. Upon 
encountering the female, he buzzes his wings a few times and 
attempts to climb on her back, without any noticeable courtship 
behavior. The male immediately extrudes his genitalia and attempts 
to mate. In our laboratory setup females seem reluctant to mate 
though the male may persist in his attempts for 15 minutes or more. 
If a spider is present in the cage, the female continues to hunt while 
the male is on her back. One female carried a paralyzed spider up 
the side of the cage, while apparently ignoring a male perched on her 
back attempting to mate. There were at least two successful matings 
in the laboratory, as shown by production of female offspring by 
lab-raised wasps. 
A. azureus males are significantly smaller than females (males: X 
= 7.57 mm, SE = .93, n = 7; females: X = 1 1.62 mm, SE = 1.78, n = 
10; t = 4.16, P < .005). In addition, Allochares size (cocoon length), 
irrespective of sex, is positively associated with spider weight (r 2 = 
.917, n = 14, P < .0001). It seems probable that females tend to lay 
female eggs on larger spiders and male eggs on smaller spiders. 
Since spiders of all sizes are constantly available, sex ratios would 
