Love Bites
10th August 2006, ThursdayThis bizarre leggy tableau was photographed yesterday at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve. These two Four-jawed spiders (Tetragnatha extensa) were swept from vegetation during an invertebrate survey. Males of this species, in common with most spiders, are smaller than the female and often in danger of being eaten during courtship and mating. In this case the male has huge jaws with hooks and notches which he uses to lock open the much smaller female jaws during mating. If you look closely at the picture you can see the two sets of jaws locked together (the male is on the right of the picture).
