Marvels of the Universe 1145 
of a big web, trying to 
attract the attention of 
the gigantic lady who has 
built it, the lady in ques- 
tion. being in some species 
a thousand times greater 
in bulk than her wooer. 
She may look favourably 
upon his advances or she 
may—eat him! In cases 
of this kind the very small- 
ness of the male may 
stand to his advantage by 
enabling him the better to 
elude the desired one, and 
it is thought that this may 
be the reason why male 
spiders are, as a rule, so 
much smaller than the 
females. To illustrate SPIDER COURTSHIP. 
this disparity in size and The male of Icius posturing and dancing before the coy female, who is slyly 
regarding him over the edge of her retreat. 
[By T. Carreras. 
weight, take the case of a 
species of Nephila. The female measures two inches in the length of body, leaving the long legs 
entirely out of account. Her mate is about one-tenth of an inch. If put into the scales it would 
take thirteen hundred males to balance one female. This being so, it is not surprising to learn 
that the male is somewhat hesitating in his advances and hangs about the borders of her web for 
hours, apparently trying to screw up his courage. If repulsed, he does his best to get out of the 
way as speedily as possible, having some instinctive knowledge of the fate that awaits him if 
caught. Emerton says: ‘‘ In these encounters the males are often injured ; they frequently lose 
some of their legs; and I have seen one, that had only four out of his eight left, still standing 
up to his work.” 
Against this there is not wanting evidence that some species show at least an approach to 
kindly relations between the sexes—for a time, what we may call the honeymoon period. 
But to come to the display by male spiders of their beauties as a means of softening the hard 
heart of the female: Mr. and Mrs. Peckham, who have made a close study of American spiders 
especially, have given us an account of the behaviour of one of the Jumping Spiders, closely related 
to the spider shown on page I144—Wwhose conduct under similar circumstances is much the same. 
They say: ‘‘ When some four inches from her he stood still, and then began the most remarkable 
performances that an amorous male could offer to an admiring female. She eyed him eagerly, 
changing her position from time to time, so that he might be always in view. He, raising his whole 
body on one side by straightening out the legs, and lowering it on the other by folding the first 
two pairs of legs up and under, leaned so far over as to be in danger of losing his balance, which he 
only maintained by sidling rapidly towards the lowered side. . . . Again and again he circles from 
side to side, she gazing towards him in a softer mood, evidently admiring the grace of his antics. 
This is repeated until we have counted a hundred and eleven circles made by the ardent little male. 
Now he approaches nearer and nearer, and when almost within reach whirls madly around and 
around her, she joining with him in a giddy maze. Again he falls back and resumes his semi- 
circular motions, with his body tilted over; she, all excitement, lowers her head and raises her 
body so that it is almost vertical ; both draw nearer.” He has won! 
