Female-initiated copulations in two tetragnathid spiders from Indonesia: Leucauge nigrovittata and Tylorida ventralis

Abstract

The mating behaviour of two species of spiders in their natural habitat is described. A male Leucauge nigrovittata from Sumatra mated repeatedly with a newly-moulted adult female which he had been guarding. Each copulation was in response to a body-jerking ‘invitation’ display by the female. In Tylorida ventralis from Sulawesi, males and females copulated almost continuously from dawn until dusk over several days. Females switched from diurnal to nocturnal web construction during this time. After temporary separations, females were almost as likely as males to solicit the re-initiation of copulation. In both species the sexes are of approximately equal size. The possible adaptive reasons for the extended mating times in T. ventralis are discussed.