While mating my Haplopelma albostriatum, I saw them do some interesting courting behavior I'd not seen before and I was wondering if anyone else has. The male approached the female, vibrating as you would expect him to do. But when they touched legs, instead of hooking her right away, they took turns checking each other out. He raised himself up while she tapped the underside of his body, then she raised herself up and he went all the way under while he tapped beneath her. Neither one of them made any effort to hold or restrain the other while they, for lack of a better phrase, each went down on the other. The male didn't hook her fangs, his palps weren't searching for her furrow. He vibrated the whole time, both when he was tapping beneath her and when he was voluntarily lifting himself so she could explore him. If she wanted to snack him, she could have had him at either time, because he was completely without a care, making himself extremely vulnerable both times. They did this three or four times, before he finally hooked her fangs, lifted her and did the sixteen-legged mambo as usual.
I was just wondering, has anyone else ever witnessed something like this? Any ideas what the point might have been?
I was just wondering, has anyone else ever witnessed something like this? Any ideas what the point might have been?
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I'm very tired. Try: Haplopelma albostriatum.