long bodied cellar spider male and female

Many spiders with better eyesight, such as various wolf spiders and jumping spiders, will 'dance' to court the female. The male may strum a unique signal on a thread connected to the female's web to identify itself and get across its intentions. Many web-building spiders will use vibration as a means of courtship communication. This is courtship.Īn Araneus diadematus male approaches a female.Ĭourtship varies considerably among different species. The male has to signal to the female that it is a spider of the same species, not food or a potential predator, and that it intends to copulate. Male spiders are generally much smaller than females in their species, making them easy prey. If other males are present, the spiders in most species will fight it out for the right to copulate with the female.Īfter taking care of any other male contenders, the spider's next task is to deal with the female spider itself. In species where the female spins a pheromone-coated web, the male's first order of business is to destroy the web to cut off the signal attracting any other males. Once the male locates a female, it has to contend with any other males in the area. Web-spinning females may release pheromones directly into the air or coat their webs with pheromones, to make a natural 'chemical antenna.' Males may also stake out developing, sexually immature female spiders, so they can be the first to mate after the spider's final molt.

When males of the same species come across the dragline, they smell the pheromone with the chemical sensors on their front legs and follow the dragline to the female.

Many female ground spiders will secrete a pheromone on their dragline, the silk thread they leave trailing behind them. In most species, the female makes it easier on the males by 'advertising' herself with pheromones, communicative chemicals.

Long bodied cellar spider male and female