Courtship behavior and coloration influence conspicuousness of wolf spiders (Schizocosa ocreata (Hentz)) to avian predators.

•Courtship displays are shaped by the trade-off between sexual selection for conspicuousness and natural selection for crypsis.•Courting male wolf spiders (Schizocosa ocreata) are highly conspicuous to avian predators, but motionless spiders are highly cryptic.•Our results suggest that behavioral plasticity may mitigate the costs of conspicuous courtship in this system.