Spider mating (Zygiella x-notata)

This is a video of what I believe to be a mating of a Zygiella x-notata (male is on the left, female on the right).

I shot this with a low-end WebCam in 1996 in Lausanne, Switzerland. It's been on a CD-ROM that was a back-up and I've dusted it off and managed to read the file on my PC. There is no sound, not that it would matter (spiders are pretty quiet).

The video starts with the female on the right coming out to the male on the left. Prior to the start of this video, the male was "tapping" on the web with his front legs, apparently to seduce the female. At the very end, she retreats to her spot. The Zygiella x-notata's don't normally stay in the center of their orb web, but have a retreat off to the side.

I'm not a spider biologist, but I have read a lot about the subject. I'd love to get confirmation of what this behavior is.

Note that the male moves from left to right, while the female just remains motionless during the mating. As I understand it, the males have to fertilize the females with their pedipalps. The male almost looks to be moving like a boxer.

The original quick-time version is here: http://files-upload.com/files/542868/spider_mate.mov

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• spider
• mating
• Zygiella
• x-notata
• orb
• web

[interstones]

it's either mating or their killing eachother

[fuhrmanator00]

Well, given that the female laid eggs weeks later, I'd say it wasn't killing each other. They did this behavior about 5 times during the night I filmed this video...

[speedemon155]

lol animal porn! this stuff gets me off! lol

[fanClassicRock]

animal porn!!! nice!!!

in some spider species the female tries to eat the mate after the mating is over! how kinky is that!

[interstones]

o i see sry