 Water mite eyes cannot form images, so Proctor suggests that males benefit from females reorientation and clutching to detect when he is directly in front of the female and should deposit spermatophores; it may also prevent males depositing spermatophores responding to residual chemical stimuli left by a female on a now empty perch (trembling was observed at recently deserted perches but never spermatophore deposition).The fanning of water over the spermatophores towards the female probably serves to move pheromones from the male to the female - this phenomenon is known in many other non-copulating arthropods, and Proctor observed that females only cease predatory behaviours and initiate courtship behaviours after receiving the chemical signals.There is no evidence that males deposited spermatophores preferentially based on female virginity or on female hunger level, though virgin females do remain with courting males for longer than non-virgin females.