1976] 
Aspey — Behavioral Ecology in Sehizocosa 
43 
the edge effect poses interesting considerations. For example, pos- 
sible ecological and behavioral variables include: (1) availability 
of food organisms; (2) weather parameters such as temperature 
and humidity; and (3) social behavior and organization of the 
animals. With regard to food availability, Luczak and her col- 
leagues (Dabrowska-Prot, Luczak, and Tarwid, 1966; Luczak, 
1966; Luczak and Dabrowska-Prot, 1966; Dabrowska-Prot and 
Luczak, 1968) observed high densities of lycosids at the forest- 
meadow interface and attributed such spider concentrations to 
the presence of large prey (i.e., mosquito) populations. 
With regard to environmental parameters, N^rgaard (1951) 
demonstrated that microclimate is an important factor in sepa- 
rating two related lycosid species having different habitat and en- 
vironmental tolerances. Using mark and recapture techniques in 
the field, Kuenzler (1958) found evidence of individual home ranges 
in Lycosa spp., and activity levels within these limited areas were 
positively correlated with temperature and humidity. Hallander 
(1967) considered courtship in relation to habitat selection in Par- 
dosa chelata, and found temperature thresholds to be important 
for courtship display to occur. Finally, in a comprehensive study 
on habitat selection and distribution of 15 wolf spider species on 
coastal sand dunes, Almquist (1973) found daily or seasonal changes 
in weather often resulting in migration. Almquist (1973) concluded 
that habitat selection was fundamentally controlled by those micro- 
climatic and vegetational conditions satisfying the spiders’ tem- 
perature and humidity requirements. Thus, while lycosids exhibit 
certain physiological tolerances to extremes of environmental 
conditions (Aspey et al., 1972), they select their habitat, in part at 
least, on the basis of microclimate. 
With regard to social behavior, Gillette (1968, 1972) has impli- 
cated a variety of seemingly non-environmental factors affecting 
aggregation in the locust, including social determinants in desert 
locusts (Gillette, 1973). Although eusociality is not known to 
exist in spiders (Wilson, 1971), there are “social” spiders, as re- 
viewed by Kullmann (1968) and Shear (1970). With the exception 
of reproductive behavior, little is known about the sociobiology 
of wolf spiders, and an examination of the social behavior of lyco- 
sids may provide additional insight into the edge effect in these 
animals. To this extent, the present paper examines the frequency 
of inter-individual encounters among adult Sehizocosa crassipes 
