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With preying mantis and black widow it seemed, as their names suggest, very common for the female to eat the male after being boinked. However, it turns out tha

by andirk 2y ago

With preying mantis and black widow it seemed, as their names suggest, very common for the female to eat the male after being boinked. However, it turns out that in the lab setting with a small closed environment, probably lots of lights and weird sounds, the female was freaked out, which led to her getting the first meal she could find, that being the male. In the wild, it does happen but as a last resort if food is scarce. The orb spider figured out a hack: he ejects his member in to her after sex which keeps inseminating her from that point forward. Sure he dies, but he reproduces from beyond the grave!

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Imustaskforhelp 2y ago
Isn't the orb spider really inefficient? What if one specific mutation of orb spider is really nice but he was killed and its "member" is in a single female orb spider limiting the greatness of a good mutation I suppose which can feel counter to evolution to me I suppose.
- thaumasiotes 2y ago
  > What if one specific mutation of orb spider is really nice but he was killed and its "member" is in a single female orb spider limiting the greatness of a good mutation That's a very soft limit; a spider lays dozens (hundreds?) of eggs after mating once. Mortality is extremely high, so there's tons of room for "really nice" mutations to spread quickly.
paulddraper 2y ago
Cannibalism is legitimate in the wild. However, as you suggest it’s not necessarily a mating thing. If the animal is hungry and there is a food source (and no reason to do anything else), the pro-survival option is chosen.
thaumasiotes 2y ago
> With preying mantis and black widow it seemed, as their names suggest The praying mantis is named after its characteristic posture while standing around. There is no preying mantis.
- andirk 2y ago
  Wow obvious good point. Even if it was "preying mantis", plenty of creatures prey on prey without coital cannibalism. Other spiders, insects, and even snakes do similar but lack the name to warn the male of his danger.

by andirk 2y ago

deleted 2y ago

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Imustaskforhelp 2y ago

Isn't the orb spider really inefficient? What if one specific mutation of orb spider is really nice but he was killed and its "member" is in a single female orb spider limiting the greatness of a good mutation I suppose which can feel counter to evolution to me I suppose.

thaumasiotes 2y ago
> What if one specific mutation of orb spider is really nice but he was killed and its "member" is in a single female orb spider limiting the greatness of a good mutation That's a very soft limit; a spider lays dozens (hundreds?) of eggs after mating once. Mortality is extremely high, so there's tons of room for "really nice" mutations to spread quickly.

paulddraper 2y ago

Cannibalism is legitimate in the wild. However, as you suggest it’s not necessarily a mating thing. If the animal is hungry and there is a food source (and no reason to do anything else), the pro-survival option is chosen.

thaumasiotes 2y ago

> With preying mantis and black widow it seemed, as their names suggest The praying mantis is named after its characteristic posture while standing around. There is no preying mantis.

andirk 2y ago
Wow obvious good point. Even if it was "preying mantis", plenty of creatures prey on prey without coital cannibalism. Other spiders, insects, and even snakes do similar but lack the name to warn the male of his danger.