Heredity and sex . Fig. 55. — Male (to left) and female (to right) of a spider, Argiope aurelia.(From Cambridge Natural History.) character. Darwin points out, since the male is some-times devoured by the female (if his attentions arenot desired), that his small size may be an adaptationin order that he may more readily escape. But thepoint may be raised as to whether he is small in orderto escape; or whether he is eaten because he is one of our native spiders, Hahrocestum splendida,the adult males and females are conspicuously different 108 HEREDITY AND SEX in color — the male more h
Heredity and sex . Fig. 55. — Male (to left) and female (to right) of a spider, Argiope aurelia.(From Cambridge Natural History.) character. Darwin points out, since the male is some-times devoured by the female (if his attentions arenot desired), that his small size may be an adaptationin order that he may more readily escape. But thepoint may be raised as to whether he is small in orderto escape; or whether he is eaten because he is one of our native spiders, Hahrocestum splendida,the adult males and females are conspicuously different 108 HEREDITY AND SEX in color — the male more highly colored than thefemale. In another native species, Maevia vittata,there are two kinds of males, both colored differentlyfrom the female. Passing over the groups of fishes and reptiles inwhich some striking cases of differences between thesexes occur, we come to the birds, where we find thebest examples of secondary sexual Fig. 56. — Superb bird of paradise.(After Elliot.) In the white-booted humming bird (Fig. 14) twoof the tail feathers of the male are drawn out, theirshafts denuded of the vanes except at the tip wherethe feather ends in a broad expansion. In the great bird of paradise, of the Aru Islands (), the male has wonderful plumes arising from thesides that can be erected to produce a gorgeous display. SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS 109 The female is modestly clothed. In the male of thesuperb bird of. paradise (Fig. 56), the mantle behindthe neck, when erected, forms a striking ornament;and on the breast there is a brilliant metallic the six-shafted bird of paradise (Fig. 57) themale has on its head six feathers with wiry shafts,
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectsex, bookyear1913
