Male wolf spiders eavesdrop on, match and even try to outdo the mating dances of their successful rivals.
By placing male wolf spiders in front of a video screen showing another male in a courtship “dance”, researchers were able to observe the visual eavesdropping in progress.
The “signal matching” behaviour had only been seen previously in vertebrates, such as birds and fish. The finding suggests invertebrates such as spiders may have more sophisticated behaviours and capacity for learning than previously thought.