Predatory and Sexual Behavior of the Spider Sicarius (Araneae: Sicariidae)
1967; Cambridge Entomological Club; Volume: 74; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1155/1967/28091
ISSN1687-7438
Autores Tópico(s)Venomous Animal Envenomation and Studies
ResumoFor a period of over :o years, from I9I to' I933 (Bonnet, I945), (erhardt published observations on the sexual behavior of spiders, describing sperm induction, charging the pedipalps with sperm, as well as mating.The observations (Gerhardt, 9:4, I9:7, 193o, 933) concerned representatives of all available families with the hope of obtaining compara.tivedata.Different groups of spiders have different methods of sperm induction and different mating positions.Gerhardt was more interested in the mechanical aspects of mating than in courtship behavior.A helpful summary (in English) of the observations of Gerhardt, Bristowe and others is provided by Kaston 948).Only in the.last few years have there been some experimental studies, including observations on the.copulatory behavior of spiders after removal of their palpi (Rovner, I966, I967).Surprisingly, courtship continued normally although both pedipalps had been am- putated in the penultimate instar and neither sperm induction nor copulation was possible.During sperm induction, the spider makes a web with silk from the posterior spinnerets.A small area. in the web, a substrate, is prepared with silk from spinning glands in the epigastric area (Melchers, I963; Marples, 967).On this substrate a drop of sperm is deposited.The sperm is.drawn into.a duct within the pedipalp of the.spider, perhaps by resorption of a. fluid previously secreted by the surrounding glands (Cooke, I966).In some.haplogyne spiders (which lack an epigynum, a plate with copulatory pores separate from gonopores), both pedi-
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