Spider dance.Scientists have discovered that some spiders' flashy attempts at attracting a mate aren't just eye-catching, they're also ground-shaking. When a female jumping spider (Zool.) spider of the genus Salticus and other related genera; one of the Saltigradæ; - so called because it leaps upon its prey. See also: Jumping , Habronattus dossenus (HAB-roh-natus doh-SEN-us), wanders by, a male spider shows off by stomping its colorful front legs and waving them in the air. Research by Damian Elias, a biologist at Cornell University Cornell University, mainly at Ithaca, N.Y.; with land-grant, state, and private support; coeducational; chartered 1865, opened 1868. It was named for Ezra Cornell, who donated $500,000 and a tract of land. With the help of state senator Andrew D. , has revealed that the male's movements create seismic waves seismic wave Vibration generated by an earthquake, explosion, or similar phenomenon and propagated within the Earth or along its surface. Earthquakes generate two principal types of waves: body waves, which travel within the Earth, and surface waves, which travel along the (vibrating vibrating, v using quivering hand motions made across the client's body for therapeutic purposes. energy waves that travel through ground). To make a "thump," for instance, the spider rams its front legs onto the ground and then vibrates its whole body. These high frequency (number of vibrations per second) waves shake the ground. The tremors entice the female to stay while the male inches closer to her. The jumping spiders perform combinations of three unique moves to signal a female. Elias says, "It looks like it's dancing." |
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