Love Life Among the Spiders

There is love and courtship among spiders, as among birds and mammals, but with a unique—and fatal—difference. An observer thus describes a courtship scene in the Cambridge Natural History:

“When some inches from her he stood still. She eyed him eagerly, changing her position from time to time. He, raising his whole body on the other side, leaned so far over he was in danger of losing his balance which he only maintained by sidling rapidly toward the lower side. Again and again he circled from side to side, she gazing toward him in a softer mode and evidently admiring the grace of his antics. This was repeated until we had counted 107 circles made by the ardent little male. He approached nearer and nearer and when almost within reach whirled madly around and around her. She joined him in the giddy dance. Again he fell back and resumed his semi-circular motion. She, all excitement, lowered her head and raised her body so that it was almost vertical. Both drew nearer. She moved slowly under him, he crawling over her head. Thus the mating was accomplished.

“A few minutes later, however, the female had eaten her ardent lover.”