A Note on the Coloration of Spiders

Abstract

IT is well known that in a large number of animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, the colour of the flanks and ventral side of the body differs from that of the dorsal. In the majority of cases the dorsal surface is most darkly tinted, the ventral palest, and the flanks intermediate in depth of tone between these two. This gradation of colouring has the effect of neutralising the shadows that are cast by the upper upon the lower portions of the body. Thus the animal does not stand out in prominent relief, but is, so to speak, artistically flattened, and thereby rendered less conspicuous.