Rabidosa santrita- Male - Rabidosa santrita - Madera Canyon, Santa Cruz County, Arizona, USA September 11, 2017 Size: 15mm BL, 2.3" Legspan
Male rabidosa santrita have silvery tufts on the metatarsi of their first and second pair of legs used for courtship, which is extremely slow, often taking several hours. Males slowly creep toward a female, slowly waving their forelegs in her face. Receptive females will suddenly crouch, non-receptive females will raise their forelegs and spread their chelicerae and advance on the male. Copulation itself can take up to three hours, the male will continue inserting until the female abruptly chases him away.
|