Sexual Cannibalism in Australian Redback Spiders
Illustrating the ultimate in selfish genes... Male Australian redback spiders have only one shot to mate
successfully and pass on their DNA to the next generation. In this video, you can see how a male
spider starts to mate with the much larger female, and how he somersaults his abdomen onto the
female's jaws. The female begins to eat the male while mating is completed. What the Dickens is the
male thinking? Because mating continues longer and is more successful when the male allows himself
to be eaten, and because females are less likely to accept a second suitor when full, it appears the dead
male wins when it comes to passing on his genes to the next generation.
The link address is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5WbtVGNpCI