Barn Spider courtship video
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Don Boucher
Dec 2, 2008, 2:04:09 PM12/2/08
to Oregon Entomological Society
A male Barn Spider (Araneus cavaticus) gingerly courts a female. She
is much larger and dangerous to him. His special plucking of the web
and gentle tapping on her legs seems like an attempt to not only
seduce her but to prevent her from attacking him (at least until he
can mate with her). I watched him for an hour and he went back and
forth a few times but I never witnessed them mate. I returned a few
hours later and he was gone. The female was eating a wrapped bundle
just about his size. Perhaps he will at least father the next
generation.
See the post on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfw-zO1I1Ww
Don Boucher
Corvallis, OR
www.neighborhood-naturalist.com
is much larger and dangerous to him. His special plucking of the web
and gentle tapping on her legs seems like an attempt to not only
seduce her but to prevent her from attacking him (at least until he
can mate with her). I watched him for an hour and he went back and
forth a few times but I never witnessed them mate. I returned a few
hours later and he was gone. The female was eating a wrapped bundle
just about his size. Perhaps he will at least father the next
generation.
See the post on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfw-zO1I1Ww
Don Boucher
Corvallis, OR
www.neighborhood-naturalist.com
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