The spider-whisperers
December 1, 2011 3:41 PM   Subscribe

Habronattus dossenus / Jumping Spider Mating Dance (with Sound!)

The study of vibration communication is gaining momentum as scientists realize just how ubiquitous it is. But why is it taking so long to catch up with other sensory systems? "It’s really been ignored because we can’t detect it," said U.C. Berkeley biologist Damian Elias, who studies spiders. "This type of sense is totally foreign to the experience of being human." [...] Now, scientists suspect that more than 200,000 insect and arachnid species use seismic communication systems, including crickets, katydids, spiders, and scorpions. Crustaceans do, too. Amphibians? Definitely. Frogs are among the most sensitive vertebrate vibration detectors on land. Reptiles, such as snakes and lizards, also join the ground-sensing group. So do our hairy mammalian relatives, from the very big to the very small.

Numerous animals use vibrations propagating through a substrate to communicate with conspecifics, predators or prey. This mode of communication has reached extraordinary heights in insects and spiders, where it is both highly sophisticated and remarkably diverse in function. Vibrational signals are probably not very costly to produce for such small animals, whereas the effective generation of air-borne sound is constrained by body size. However, the vibrations created by insects and spiders do not range further than a few metres, but relative to the size of these arthropods this is actually quite substantial. Until recently, vibrational communication had received very little attention, but now a growing number of studies is revealing more and more examples and roles of vibrational signals.
posted by eagle-bear (23 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
Why did it cut out! I want to see what happened!
posted by danny the boy at 3:50 PM on December 1, 2011


Why did it cut out! I want to see what happened!

You gotta pay the monthly membership fee for full videos.
posted by edguardo at 3:56 PM on December 1, 2011 [13 favorites]


That can't be right.
posted by Awakened at 3:56 PM on December 1, 2011 [3 favorites]


I'm pretty sure this is a double, but it is still awesome.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:59 PM on December 1, 2011


I'm not allowed to do this dance anymore. It works fine, except I keep getting my head bitten off.
posted by loquacious at 4:01 PM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]


I'm not allowed to do this dance anymore. It works fine, except I keep getting my head bitten off.

Maybe you aren't clicking loudly enough. Make sure your forward pair of hind legs is tucked in well!

spider snowflake details inside
posted by edguardo at 4:03 PM on December 1, 2011 [4 favorites]


Made my day.
posted by stonepharisee at 4:11 PM on December 1, 2011


LOL! Awesome!


*POP! POP! WHIIIRRRrrrr!*
posted by darkstar at 4:15 PM on December 1, 2011


Why do black widow spiders kill their males after mating?

To stop the snoring before it starts.
posted by netbros at 4:18 PM on December 1, 2011 [4 favorites]


Maybe you aren't clicking loudly enough. Make sure your forward pair of hind legs is tucked in well!

Ok, I've been working on that, but I'm still not totally sure what to do with my back pair of front legs. And is it true that the ladies dig hairy legs?
posted by kaibutsu at 4:32 PM on December 1, 2011


So this is where Gary Larson got the idea for that cartoon with the dating entomologists.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:49 PM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]


Great post, thanks!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:18 PM on December 1, 2011


kittens for breakfast, you're probably thinking of the other jumping spider courtship dance FPP. It was totally different.
posted by Nomyte at 5:24 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]


Great post!
posted by Gator at 5:29 PM on December 1, 2011


Most cool.

Disappointed in the lack of hot spider on spider sexy times, but it is counterbalanced by the sheer Lovecraftiness of the scene.
posted by Samizdata at 7:39 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]


I'd hit that
posted by cman at 8:26 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]


It is a double, and I'm particularly fond of spiders as you can see. But, you know, it's cool!
posted by lazaruslong at 8:33 PM on December 1, 2011


It reminds me of a certain Spanish dance (Flamenco?) where the dancer raises their arms and make similar snapping motions.
posted by Alnedra at 8:48 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]


I think we can leave this stand even if the video is a double; the other post was four years ago (and doesn't work with my Chrome, so maybe browser issues?), and there's additional info on this – so sexy sex vibrating spider pre-sex for all!
posted by taz at 10:08 PM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]


I'm always amazed a little that these little dudes can even FIND each other. Those peacock spiders are TINY and it's a big jungle out there, y'all.
posted by darkstar at 10:26 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]


These little spiders are adorable, the little eyes and their dance moves are really pretty decent.
Humans do too use dance for courtship!
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 12:10 AM on December 2, 2011


Neat, I wrote a short story about this that's being published end of December. Right on time to earn me some sciencey cred.
posted by New England Cultist at 2:53 AM on December 2, 2011


spider snowflake details inside

edguardo, I just bought you a free month of UltraMetafilter for that comment.
posted by IAmBroom at 10:02 AM on December 2, 2011


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