Summary
A male jumping spider drums and shimmers to send a signal to a much larger female -- get it wrong and he becomes a snack. Deep Look reveals how these tiny spiders send and read courtship messages.
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All ages
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Talk about it
A male jumping spider taps out vibrations and flashes colors to tell a female who he is. She senses the vibrations through her legs and 'reads' the display. Animals use senses to send and receive signals -- a kind of language without words.
- How does the male spider send his message?
- How does the female spider receive and 'read' that message?
- Why is sending the right signal so important for the male?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: signal, vibration, communicate, senses.
Try it: Tap a secret pattern on a desk for a partner to copy. Write how animals send and read signals the same way.