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For These Tiny Spiders, It's Sing or Get Served | Deep Look

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Channel: Deep Look
Categories: Biology   |   Environmental   |   Science  
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Description

Male jumping spiders perform courtship dances that would make Bob Fosse proud. But if they bomb, they can wind up somebody's dinner instead of their mate.

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DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Get a new perspective on our place in the universe and meet extraordinary new friends. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

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During courtship, the male jumping spider performs an exuberant dance to get the female’s attention. Like a pint-sized Magic Mike working for twenties, he shimmies from side to side, waves his legs, and flaps his front appendages (called pedipalps) in her direction.

If she likes what she sees, the female may allow him to mate. But things can also go terribly wrong for these eight-legged suitors. She might decide to attack him, or even eat him for lunch. Cannibalism is the result about seven percent of the time.

These mating rituals were first described more than 100 years ago. Their study took on a new dimension, however, when scientists discovered that the males also sing when they attempt to woo their lady loves.

By rubbing together their two body segments, equipped with a comb-shaped instrument, the males create vibrations that travel through the ground. The female spiders can “hear” the male songs through ear-like slits in their legs, called sensilla.

A male spider’s coordination of the dance and the song seems to affect his reproductive success — in other words, his ability to stay alive during this risky courtship trial. But what exactly the signals mean remains mysterious to scientists.

Scientists ultimately hope to understand how a female decides whether she’s looking at a stud — or a dud.

--- Where do jumping spiders get their name?

Jumping spiders don’t spin webs to catch food. They stalk their prey like cats. They use their silk as a drag line while they hop around.

--- What do jumping spiders eat?

Jumping spiders are carnivorous and eat insects like flies, bees, and crickets.

--- Where do jumping spiders live?

A map of jumping spider habitat looks like the whole world! Tropical forests contain the greatest number, but they live just about everywhere, even the Himalayan Mountains.

---+ Read the entire article on KQED Science:

https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2016/10/04/for-these-tiny-spiders-its-sing-or-get-served/

---+ For more information:

Elias Lab at U.C. Berkeley: https://nature.berkeley.edu/eliaslab/

---+ More great Deep Look episodes:

This Vibrating Bumblebee Unlocks a Flower's Hidden Treasure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZrTndD1H10

The Ladybug Love-In: A Valentine's Special
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-Z6xRexbIU

---+ See some great videos and documentaries from the PBS Digital Studios!

Idea Channel: Do You Pronounce it GIF or GIF?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmqy-Sp0txY

Gross Science: Are There Dead Wasps In Figs?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DQTjv_u3Vc

---+ Follow KQED Science:

KQED Science: http://www.kqed.org/science
Tumblr: http://kqedscience.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience

---+ About KQED

KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, CA, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, Radio and web media.

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is also supported by HopeLab, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Smart Family Foundation and the members of KQED.

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