PSYCHE 
Vol. 88 
1981 
No. 3-4 
SOUND PRODUCTION BY COURTING MALES OF 
PHID1PPUS MYSTACEUS (ARANEAE: SALTICIDAE)i 
By G. B. Edwards * 2 
The courtship rituals of male salticids generally are considered to 
be visually-oriented, despite the fact that a primarily tactile type of 
courtship has been demonstrated for 2 species of Phidippus (Ed- 
wards, 1975; Jackson, 1977). In addition, chemotactic cues probably 
assist a male in locating a female in most species of jumping spiders 
(Crane, 1949; Richman, 1977). I report here that males of Phidippus 
mystaceus (Hentz) produce sound by means of a palpal stridulatory 
mechanism as an integral part of their courtship. This is the first 
known case of a salticid producing sound with this type of 
mechanism; a similar stridulatory organ has been reported for 
lycosid spiders (Rovner, 1975). 
Petrunkevitch (1926) reported that the salticid Stridulattus stridu- 
lans Petrunkevitch has a stridulatory organ (of type “d”, chelicera- 
palpus; Legendre, 1963). However, he did not detect sound produc- 
tion. The only other records of a salticid producing sound were by 
Bristowe (1958), who reported that Euophrys frontalis (Walckenaer) 
made a “distinct sound as the tarsal claws (of the legs I of the male) 
hit the ground . . . ,” and by Bristowe and Locket (1926), who had 
reported earlier on the same species, but had implicated the legs II 
as the sound producers. In either case, it was not clear if the sound 
produced by E. frontalis was an integral part of the courtship or 
incidentally produced by the movement of the legs. 
'Contribution No. 514, Bureau of Entomology, Division of Plant Industry, Florida 
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Gainesville, FL 32602. 
2 Florida State Collection of Arthropods, Division of Plant Industry, P. O. Box 1269, 
Gainesville, FL 32602. 
Manuscript received by the editor June 7, 1981. 
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