Seismic communication during courtship in two burrowing tarantula spiders: An experimental study on Eupalaestrus weijenberghi and Acanthoscurria suina

During courtship, males of Eupalaestrus weijenberghi and Acanthoscurria suina performed body vibrations and palpal drumming after contacting conspecific female silk at the burrow entrance. Receptive females responded by leg tapping. To elucidate the communicatory channels involved in both species, courting males were placed in terraria with females that had burrowed. In the first experiment, the courting male was covered with a glass cup, minimizing airborne acoustic communication but allowing seismic communication. In the second, the male courted without the cup cover. In the third experiment, the male and the female were placed into two separated parts of the terrarium, greatly limiting seismic communication. In the fourth, these last parts were joined. Females of both species responded to the courtship with receptive behavior in all of the experiments except experiment 3. We conclude that male signals produced during courtship in these two species are mainly seismic. Male body vibrations (that would generate seismic signals) as well as female display, are a widespread phenomena in theraphosid spiders.