Summary
A male spider must send just the right signal to approach a female without being mistaken for prey. Deep Look shows the careful courtship dance spiders use to communicate.
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All ages
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Talk about it
A female spider reacts to movement -- so a visiting male has to tap out a special vibration on her web to say 'I'm a friend, not food.' Reading and sending these signals correctly is a matter of survival, showing how animals communicate through their senses.
- Why does the male spider need to send a special signal?
- How does the female know whether it's a friend or food?
- How do spiders 'talk' to each other without sound we can hear?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: courtship, signal, vibration, communicate.
Try it: Gently pluck a stretched rubber band in a pattern. Write how a spider uses vibrations to send a careful message.