UV makes sexy spiders

A pretty interesting article. Why do I always find these kind of articles interesting... Someone please agree with me it's interesting. Just so I could clear up my 'pervert' label, as what most friends call me.

News from MSNBC

Ultraviolet glow lights up spider sex
Fluorescent markings play role in buggy mating rituals, scientists say
By Jeanna Bryner
Updated: 3:18 p.m. MT Jan 25, 2007

As if dressed for a psychedelic rave, jumping spiders sport glowing patches on their bodies to lure in eight-legged mates, a new study finds.

Jumping spiders of both sexes are known for their excellent eyesight, particularly in the ultraviolet wavelengths, and male jumping spiders are equipped with UV-reflecting scales that glow bright white and green under the sun’s ultraviolet light.

The spiders display and pose these body parts to intimidate other males. Such bright ornaments seemed a likely lure for mates, but no one had yet found evidence of them in action.

Matthew L.M. Lim and Daiqin Li

A close-up of a jumping spider's face highlights markings that glow in ultraviolet light. Such markings appear to be a "crucial prerequisite for courtship," researchers say.

Scientists led by Matthew Lim of the University of Singapore videotaped pairs of male and female jumping spiders under full-spectrum light — which includes UV light — and under UV-blocked light.

Under ultraviolet light, the male and female were seen to hit the "dance floor" with their bodies aglow: Turns out, females have their own “glow stick” — their front appendages, called palps, glowed in a bright green hue under UV light.

As courtship progressed, the male arched its body, vibrated its palps and slinked on tiptoe toward the female. The female spider hunched, seeming to play hard to get, and then scampered away.

Researchers also observed the spiders when one sex was in full-spectrum light and the other in UV-deficient light. When a partner was not lit up by UV, the females showed no interest, suggesting that a male must show its good before courtship can proceed. Males ignored or showed much less interest in females under UV-blocked light.

NBC VIDEO

• The invisible sex dance of spiders Jan. 25: Watch the mating dance in full-spectrum and ultraviolet light. Matthew L.M. Lim and Daiqin Li