Spider sex causes spontaneous death
12:33 26 June 03
NewScientist.com news service
Sexual suicide, cannibalism and necrophilia are all involved in a macabre study that adds a new twist to the mating behaviour of spiders.
Researchers found that for male orb-weaving spiders of the species Argiope aurantia completing copulation leads to certain death. The deceased suitor's corpse is then trapped in the female genitalia. This may be a strategy to prevent other males from subsequently mating with the female, say the scientists.
"I was stunned that his happened with every single male," says Matthias Foellmer, of Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, who conducted the study with Daphne Fairbairn of the University of California, Riverside. "Spiders are known for their bizarre mating, but even so this was surprising."
Male spiders are often the losers of the dating game. The females of many species are cannibals, literally combining dinner and a date. Some males do their best to escape their mate's post coital appetite while others, like the red back spider, accept their fate by somersaulting into the female's fangs.
But anecdotal reports that Argiope males were not eaten but died spontaneously during sex intrigued Foellmar and Fairbairn. So they observed more than 100 spider matings.
Sure. Kill oneself as a strategy to prevent her from cheating on you. Some strategy.