that_bee_guy's Favorites

Photo 2: I placed a suspected male (bottom individual) into the same tube as the female in photo 1 to try to observe any courtship behavior. The male was collected at Jardine South Catchwater while the female was collected in Aberdeen Country Park. After unattended for 10 minutes, I returned to see that the male had entered the same silk retreat that the female had constructed. They were together for around 1-3 minutes before I startled the male when taking photos and it retreated to the bottom of the tube. Up till this morning (8/6/2022) there was no observed interaction between the two.

Photo 3-4: I transferred both individuals into a larger container on 8/6/2022 in the evening. Both showed signs of interaction and they were recorded on video. At 23:53, individuals were seen mating: Photo 3 shows the male climbing onto the female's back, and photo 4 shows the end of the mating process as the male begins to separate from the female. Since the female was IDed as Nepalicius koreanus, this evidence subsequently proves the male's (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/119247587) previously unknown identity. But I would refrain from IDing the males to species level for now