Male Spiders "Twerk" to Avoid Being Eaten

If Spiders terrify you (yes!), the news that they “twerk” will either allay your fears or terrify you even further.

According to National Geographic, researchers at Simon Fraser University have discovered that black widow male spiders announce themselves to the female of the species by vibrating the female’s web to clearly let them know that they are coming over for purposes other than being caught and eaten. (In fact, they are coming over to drink wine and watch Parenthood. Not to make more spiders. This is what I have to tell myself at night.)

Results form the lab suggest that black male widow spiders produce just the right vibration to keep the females from attacking, but that this is a fragile balance. When the researchers turned up the sound of the vibration, female black widows attacked, reacting to the males as prey and not equals just there to discuss Miley’s newest video.

This is fascinating information (how soon can I start communicating with spiders?), but it also raises the question of whether this could be used for humans too. How long before someone uses this information to create a twerking self-defense course?