Observations on Courtship and Copulation of the Wolf Spider Rabidosa Santrita (Araneae, Lycosidae) (Short Communication) (Report‪)‬

ABSTRACT. In this note, I describe courtship and mating behavior of the wolf spider Rabidosa santrita (Chamberlin & Ivie 1942) from riparian habitat in southeastern Arizona. Males responded to substrateborne cues of females with several distinctive behaviors: they walked slowly, following female web draglines; with their palps, they plucked the dragline and/or tapped on the substrate near the dragline; and they performed raises and extensions of legs I, "tapping" the tips while in midair. On substrate previously occupied by another male, these behaviors were either not done or males performed them more rapidly, and for a shorter duration. Males initiated courtship, which consisted of taps or short strokes of legs I of the female by the male's legs I. Copulation was similar to that described for other species of Rabidosa. Males inserted one palp at a time, performed one hematodochal expansion per insertion, moistened the palp following insertion, and alternated palps for each insertion. Copulation lasted from 35 min to 1 h. Keywords: Courtship behavior, mating behavior, pheromones, substrate-borne cues, dragline, silk