Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-10-16

lower orders of animals are governed in
thetic considerations similar to those which
prevail among human beings, the hand
soonest, the bravest or the strongest of any
given number of suitors have decidedly the
best chance Of winning favor.
Spiders and Butterflies Can't Fight.
With those animals among whom the
question is determined. as in the knightlv
days of old, by wager of battle there is, of
course, no room for dispute, but with in.
sects like the butterfly and the spider,
where a more civilized form of courtship is
observed, the point is not SO easily settled.
Butterflies, for instance, ar. not provided
with any weapons of offense or defense, and
while the spiders are formidable to other
animals they can produce little effect
upon each other.
The spiders of the family attide, among
which the studies of Professor and Mrs.
Peckham were made, do good deal of fight
ing, but these battles seem to be mainly the
result of jealousy and personal feeling and
are sUpremelv unimportant in determining
the issue of cou-tship. Upon one occasion
two gallants who were paying attentions in
the same quarter rushed sayagely upon each
other and fought for % minutes, during one
round remaining clinched for six minutes
The combatants appeared tired at the close
of The battle, but after q short rest were per-
fectly we'll and fought number cf times
subsequently. Indeed. these combats
seem to be quite as harmless as the average
French duel, for at another time eight or
ten specimens of the very quarrelsome den
dryphdntes capitalus were put in box and
alter two weeks of hard fighting there was
Iol - H.
Dance of Spider Lover.
The courtship of salts palez is most elab-
orate affair and success depends upon the
grace and skill of the suitor in dancing.
This performance, as described BY Prof
Peckham, throws the Spanish fandango or
the 'Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay" convolutions
far into the shade. He raises his whole
body on one side by Strengthening out the
legs and lowering it on the other by folding
the first two pair of legs up and under leans
SO far over as to be in danger of losing his
balance. which is only maintained bv
siding rapidly toward his lower side He
moves in semi-circle for about two inches
aud then instantly reverses the position of
the legs and circles in the opposite direc.
tion. This is repeated until Prof Peck
ham has counted Ill circles made in this
curious dance.
Whenever the spider possesses any spe-
cial adornment in the way of coloring he
always makes q point of displaying it as
full as possible in the presence of his in
amorata. The spider known as sys7geles
pcata has the first pair of legs especially
thickened These are attened on the an
terror surface and are of brightly irides-
cent steel blue color. When disporting
himself before admiring eyes he pauses
every few moments to rock from side to
side and to bend his brilliant legs so that
they may be brought into full view. He
could not choose better position to make |
the display. In fact, his attitude first d.
rected Prof Peckham's attention to his |
peculiar beauty.
Proud OF His Bronze Brown Face.
The dsndruphantes cdpitalus has bronze |
brown face. rendered conspicuous by snow |
white bands, aud. whether intentional or
not, he assumes an attitude which serves |
to expose this feature to |
view. His antics are repeated for a long |
time, often for hours In the habrocestum |
spleade,ls the abdomen is of q magnificent |
purplish red and he assumes an attitude
which displays this beauty very completely.
The case of dstid vittdta is especially interest
ing because there are two well-marked var
ieties of male, one red like the female and
the other black. The attitudes and move
menus OF courtsnlp are eHtlIeiy u'HeEeut AZ
the two varieties.
The black. evidently a. later development,
is much the more lively of the two and
" hen the two varieties come into rivalry he
is, as rule, successful. Those who are fond
Of tracing analogies may perhaps find in
his curious confirmation of the theory
about the attraction between blonde and
brunette types OF humanity.
A Belle Eats an Adnirer.
The dangers of courtship were also often
witnessed. The specimen of haSdri"s hori
continued to pay his addresses after the
objec. of them had shown signs of impa-
.ience when she seized him and held him by
he head for a minute, he struggling. at
ength, by desperate effort, lie succeeded
IN freeing himself and ran away. Another
unfortunate OF the phiGipoass ryt.s variety
was caught and eaten when he insisted on
showing off his fine points too psrsistently.
If there are any monarchs in spiderdom
to the King Of Dahoine this
ind another savage creature under OBSERVE
ion would be valuable acquisition to his
Irmy of Amazons The order to which the
after specimen belonged Is known to
cience as phidip2,s morstdna One day, be-
ng in a particularly bad humor, this virago
prang upon two promising young members
Vt the so-calied stcrner sex and killed
hem, although they had offered her only
he msrest civilities.
FRANK ATKINSON.