Cockroach consensus and singing spiders

Just a coupla links suggesting that, once again, we're not as unique as we thought. In fact, some of my personal least favorite critters, roaches, apparently "govern themselves in a simple democracy." (From Discovery Channel online via The Huge Entity). I guess if nothing else it makes me feel ever so slightly better about the prospect of the little fuckers inheriting the earth after we've nuked/global warmed/whatever'd ourselves into extinction. Maybe they'll do a better job, after a few hundred millenia to evolve...

Meanwhile, "Female Spiders Love Performers"

Jan. 6, 2005 — Certain female jumping spiders demand that their mates tap dance and sing before they will mate with them, according to new research.

While it is well known that birds sing and bees dance, the addition of Fred Astaire spiders to the story of "the birds and the bees" is relatively new, and suggests that spiders engage in much more sophisticated communication and behavior than previously thought.

All I have to say here is that the little beady eyes still freak me out, although I expect I'd see it differently were I a, you know, spidder.

maybe one of the most-requested tunes is,

"Golly, jee-pers,
where'd you get those peepers,
Jeepers, creepers,
where did you get those eyes?..."