A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Centruroides gracilis
The reddish, smaller on is the female and the other is the male. They had their pinchers interlocked and would move back and forth and closer and further from each other. Occasionally one would straighten out its tail and try to sting the other, but neither could reach. Eventually the smaller, red one retreated.
I was walking along the rocks right at the ocean looking for snakes at night when I found these two guys. The jungle was just a few meters behind them and the ocean a few meters in front of them.
Recently found out this is the courtship dance. The male had dropped a spermatophore (sperm packet) and was "dancing" with the female trying to get her positioned over it to pick it up.
Spotted on Jul 24, 2014
Submitted on Jul 29, 2014
4 Comments
I've never seen this. Thanks for sharing Ashley.
Very interesting. You were in the right place at the right time!
Had a professor from my school who is very knowledgeable about invertebrates take a look at this and ID'd them for me and told me what was going on, I put it in the notes section :)
maybe a pre-mating behavior?