Check Out Spider Nureyev

Silken moves intended to impress a lady
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted May 6, 2011 3:22 AM CDT

Move over, Black Swan. The best dancing films feature a tiny creature that could get smooshed on the bottom of Natalie Portman's ballet slipper. But the jumping spider cuts astoundingly impressive moves when a male is determined to impress a mate. NPR calls the ritual a "magnificent demonstration of naked, forlorn, magnificent passion." The dancing males transmit a series of vibrations, including "snaps" that sound a bit like Flamenco heel clicks, to put a female in the mood. But they can be a tad clueless about their mates, and have been known to court dead females and paper spiders in the lab. Check out both vids above. The second one is an edited, musical YouTube version of this NPR original video. (More dance stories.)

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