When you’re a male jumping spider and you fancy finding a female to mate with, you might try your hand – or in this case paddle – at impressing a female before seducing her.
Female jumping spiders only mate once, and if an unwitting male attempts to mate with a female that mated previously, he risks the likelihood of being killed. Male jumping spiders take their time when attempting to seduce a female, usually waving their paddles as a means of impressing her. When they feel safe to approach the female, they’ll wave their arms to show that they mean no harm.
The female may play hard to get, forcing the male to work hard to earn his prize. When this happens, the male steps up his game, sometimes making his paddle display more impressive. In this video, we see a male chasing after a female who, at first, appears uninterested. After some persistence and impressive paddle shows, the female finally succumbs and allows the male to do his thing.
The male is quick to retreat after finishing. After all, he wouldn’t want the female to have second thoughts after his mating game is complete.