Lady spiders demand gifts from their gentleman callers — or else they eat them

Washington Post ^ | May 18, 2016 | Elahe Izadi

[daisy12]

Look, if any of these male nursery web spiders out there want to get busy and perpetuate their lineage, they better not show up empty-handed. Because they could get eaten. Alive.

"Nuptial gift-giving" has long been observed in nursery web spiders (Pisaura mirabilis). Basically, male spiders offer female spiders insects wrapped up in silk (yes, a snack packaged in high-end material).

There's been a fair amount of interest in this unique mating ritual, and a new study published this week in Biology Letters sheds further light on it. Researchers found male spiders without gifts were six times more likely to be eaten by female spiders before mating. And that happened "independent of female hunger."

[daisy12]

"But lest you feel bad for these male spiders (and you shouldn't because these are spiders, and not people, but anyway), keep in mind that they can be deceitful little creatures. Some males actually bring fake gifts — inedible plant seeds or the remains of an insect they've already eaten — and try to pass off these packages as legit meals."

[Lent]

I hate spiders!

[DesertRhino]

Thank goodness male human are -completely- safe from the depredations of the female of our species.

[Hot Tabasco]

Strangely enough, I see a correlation between female spiders and human females.............

[Farmer Dean]

Kind of like the fake glass engagement ring maneuver?

[daisy12]

LOL

[dfwgator]

The Kardashians of the insect world.

[rlmorel]

LOL, that nearly made me spit out food I didn’t have in my mouth!

[Ransomed]

Check out the Portia spiders. They are jumping spiders that specialize in preying on other spiders. These things are amazing, they seem to solve problems like much bigger animals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portia_(spider)

Freegards

[fieldmarshaldj]

Spiders have hippo asses ?

[Da Coyote]

See link right above this. Muzzies donthe same thing.

[PCPOET7]

wow then you are not familier with the femines-nazia-sapien a species of women found at most liberal universities.

[Talisker]

Y’all realize this proves evolution, right?

[Dilbert San Diego]

This article is assuming we are binary and hetero normative.

What about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered spiders? What about their mating rituals???

[Olog-hai]

I hate their prey more.

[Secret Agent Man]

Yeah I see what you did there.

[Jonty30]

So they are just like us. The men pay, or they pay.

One way or the other.

[JustAmy]

To help get this train started, click it.

[madison10]

Yes, and I see a HUGE correlation between male spiders and human males bringing fake gifts. :)

[Telepathic Intruder]

Let’s not even discuss what happens when the male spider forgets an anniversary.