Lovematch

[Nick Smith]

I have enjoyed watching the habits of this spider in my garden all year. This is a shot I took earlier in the year as the males tentatively approach the females, waving their palps in a submissive way. They are very often unsuccessful and chased off, but quickly pluck up the courage to try again, inching slowly toward the female, palps raised, first the left, then the right, then both. The semaphore has to be correct or the female will chase him off again. The female scratches the ground in front of her, teasing him closer and closer. I have yet to see the mating act but have seen a lot of them in the garden carrying the egg sacks and later with the spiderlings clinging to her back.





Nick.

[Geoff F]

Looking at that male, they could be Pardosa nigriceps but that is a difficult, almost impossible, family to accurately identify from photos.

Another species to watch out for is Metellina segmenta which is commonly found in gardens.

The male waits until the female is eating then he sneaks up behind her. Often she seems more worried about him stealing her food than mating.

But I have seen successful outcomes.

[nikolai_avenger]

Many thanks for posting this picture and behavioural observation, most interesting. I have yet to see this from my local Pardosa sp.

Cheers. Nik.