Australia
Deep in the Australian wilderness, you’ll find a very strange bug.
Meet the peacock spider!
Peacock Spider
Its crazy skill is its cool dance moves.
Crazy Skill: Cool Dance Moves
This lonely male is on the lookout for a mate.
He’s 10 times smaller than your fingernail!
But don’t let his size fool you—he’s got a few tricks to get noticed by the ladies.
Oh yeah! He’s got some rhythm.
By drumming on the branch, he tries to woo the female with his musical talent.
Here she is! Hmmm, she seems interested.
When their eyes finally meet—it’s his chance to impress!
The spider gets its name from the equally snazzy peacock bird, which uses its colorful tail feathers to attract females.
This kind of behavior is called a courtship display.
courtship display
It’s normally the males that put on the displays. The female gets to decide whether or not to mate with the male depending on how good his performance is.
And this spider is certainly working hard to get this female’s attention.
She looks interested, so slowly, he makes his way closer.
If he gets too close, the female will attack him.
Oh no—he failed!
Do you think it was the dancing? Or was it something he said?
Whatever it was, the search for a mate continues for this colorful spider.
So how crazy is the peacock spider?
Crazy-o-meter
Males use extravagant courtship displays to attract a female.
courtship displays
They first drum to get her attention.
drum
And then dance to impress her.
dance
That’s super crazy!