Lisa Taylor, of the Arizona State University Life Sciences Department, found these two jumping spiders of the genus Paraphidippus in Costa Rica. The male (on the right) is guarding the female. The males of this species have larger chelicerae (jaws) than the females, and these jaws may be used for fighting with other males over access to females.
Read submitted captions — or submit your own!
VIEWER-SUBMITTED CAPTIONS
“Yes, it is I, ma’lady, your knight in shining exoskeleton.”
— Jeremy Towne, Indianapolis, IN
“Let’s do it on the fly.”
— Clyde, Old Shop, NL, Canada
“Barbara takes proactive measures to stop Joe’s midnight larder raids.”
— Glover, Baltimore, MD
“Wanna hang out?”
— Daci, NC
“I told you I would pay for the designer wedding dress… but no, you had to go and do it yourself!”
— Ben Campos, Fresno, CA
“The first time our ocelli met, my jointed appendages went weak, my exoskeleton tinkled, and my chelicerae dropped to the floor!”
— Molly Grossman, LaGrange, IN
“Shall we go to my web or your web or each go home alone?”
— Daniel, New York, NY
“Prisoner of Love”
— Donna Sobczak, Arlington, TN
“My nine eyes adore you!”
— Dale Marsden, McFarland, WI
“Oh honey, I love it when you tie me up!”
— Diane, Tempe, AZ
“Please wake up, Suzie. It’s time to go visit Miss Muffett.”
— Joyce Cope, Ormond Beach, FL
“Nice legs!”
— Liz Greenbaum, New York, NY
“Hey, you said you were just going to carry me over the threshold.”
— Dan, Washington, DC
“Don’t do that in front of the web cam!”
— Sean O’Shea, Brooklyn, NY
“What a tangled web of love we weave.”
— Donald Lee, Brooklyn, NY
SUBMIT YOUR OWN CAPTION!
Send us yours in the comments field below.
