In the case of most of the spiders whose love-dances were investigated, the chief ornamentation of the male consisted of fringes of white or coloured hairs on the face, the palps, and the front legs, and they kept these parts always before the females, displaying their glories to the utmost advantage. The male of _Habrocestum splendens_, however, possesses an extremely brilliant abdomen, and, lest anything of its beauty should be lost upon the object of his admiration, he varies the ordinary performance in a remarkable manner. He often pauses in the dance, and, raising his abdomen, “strikes an attitude” in which he remains motionless for half a minute. Moreover he frequently turns his back on the female—a most unusual occurrence in the course of these antics. The males of one species, _Philaeus militaris_, were observed to capture and keep guard over young females, which they imprisoned in webs spun for the purpose until they had undergone their last moult and were mature, chasing away all intruders in the interval. The jumping spiders furnish a much stronger case for those who believe that ornamentation plays an important part in sexual selection than do either birds or butterflies. With regard to the birds it has been objected, first, that there is little evidence that the females pay much attention to the antics of the males, and secondly, that practically all the male birds pair, whatever their claims to pre-eminent beauty. Now in the case of the jumping spiders the females follow the performances of the males with the utmost attention, and seeing that the males are present in large numbers when the females begin to appear, the latter are certainly in the position to reject such mates as do not please them. The mere relation of the results of this most interesting investigation conveys no hint of the unwearied patience and close observation necessary to those who would surprise the secrets of nature. One is apt to infer that it is only needful to place some spiders in a box, establish oneself in an arm chair, and ring on the performance, so to speak. The Peckhams modestly remark: “The courtship of spiders is a very tedious affair. We shall condense our descriptions as much as possible, but it must be noted that we often worked four or five hours a day for a week in getting a fair idea of the habits of a single species.” CHAPTER XI THERAPHOSID SPIDERS