Comparative study of the display and mating behaviour of lyssomanine jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae), especiallyAsemonea tenuipes, Goleba puella, andLyssomanes viridis

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Abstract
This is the first detailed study of the display and mating behaviour of lyssomanine salticids, Lyssomaninae being a primitive subfamily of the Salticidae. Asemonea tenuipes (O. P. -Cambridge) from Sri Lanka, Goleba puella (Simon) from Kenya, and Lyssomanes viridis (O. P. -Cambridge) from the United States of America were studied in the laboratory. Field data for these and another six species are also provided. How lyssomanine displays and mating compare to other salticids is considered. Sperm induction by A. tenuipes is described, details about this behaviour being scarce for all salticids. Courtship versatility (i.e., use of distinctly different mating tactics depending on the female's location and maturity) appears to be less developed in lyssomanines than in other salticids, this apparently being partly explained by lyssomanine nesting behaviour (relatively open nests on leaves). Yet, lyssomanines resemble other salticids by including both visual and vibratory displays in their repertoires and by practising cohabitation, a mating tactic in which mature males wait for subadult females to moult. A. tenuipes males adopt an extraordinary posture during courtship, in which they rotate their bodies over and lie on their sides while walking toward the female. G. puella and L. viridis males frequenlty hold their palps erect, which is an unusual salticid display. But, over all, the details of lyssomanine displays do not stand out as especially different from displays of non-lyssomanine salticids. Lyssomanines appear to rely on pheromones to a greater extent than other salticids do.