Reproduction
The
S. mccooki has had to form a reproductive courtship. As
with any other species, depending on how well the S. mccooki
accomplishes predation and consumption is determinant on
the reproductive success of the species and future generations.
The more an individual consumes the more likely that individual
will
survive and reproduce. The reproductive cycle begins with the
male S.mccooki courting the female. The
courtship of the Schizocosa mccooki are visual
and rhymic rituals played out in a dance to win over the female.
The male courtship of the species Schizocosa mccooki
usually consists of seismic components, which is various
combinations of rubbing body parts, reverberating sounds and
drumming, and waving their legs. Male S. mccooki
have a black pigmentation on their femora (Hebets, 1996) this
black speck is used to attract a female to mate with. The
multistep mating process begins with the male hoisting his body
into the air then lowering it, as if he were going to do a
push-up; this push-up produces a “click” that can be heard by
the human ear, and is produced by the process known as
stridulation. Stridulation is the grating or chirping noise made
by some insects by rubbing body parts together (Merriam-Webster,
2013). Courtship thus continues onward, with the occurrences of
pedipalp drumming, the pedipalp is the second pair of appendages
attached to the cephalothorax of most arachnids (Lowrie, 2013).
The last tradition to the three-step courtship is the release of
the extended leg waves; the male raises his forelegs and lowers
them to the ground as if waving his arms towards the female. The
S. mccooki tend to practice the act of monogamy and stay
with the partner for the entire lifespan.