Male brown widow spiders seek to
mate with older, less-fertile females that are 50 percent more likely to eat
them after sex, according to Israeli researchers in a study published in the
journal Animal Behaviour.
Researchers at Ben-Gurion
University of the Negev, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and The Volcani
Center in Israel collected male and female brown widow spiders from central and
southern Israel and then positioned the females to give the males the choice of
which to approach - immature (sub-adult) or mature (old) females - while they
observed the interactions. Immature females are able to mate, store sperm and
produce eggs after the final molt to adult stage.
"We originally thought the
males would prefer the sub-adult females, as they are more fertile and far less
likely to cannibalize them, but we were surprised to discover that was not the
case," the researchers said.
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