Jumping spiders weave mating web in ultraviolet light

In the world of spiders, neither beauty nor brawn turn on a mate. Ultraviolet light, according to the latest study, does the trick.

Both female and male jumping spiders (cosmophasis umbratica) have ultraviolet-reflective body parts and depend on ultraviolet light for courtship and mating, Chinese scientists have found.

Under ultraviolet light, some body parts of female jumping spiders fluoresce in green light and attract the opposite sex, parts of whose body are covered with ultraviolet-reflective scales, said Li Daiqi, the lead author of the research report, which was published in last week's issue of the prestigious US journal Science.