Female funnel-web spiders have an odd pairing behavior of laying down and dying during copulation so that the male is less worried about being eaten after mating.
Female funnel-web spiders have developed the behavior of playing dead to deceive their mates. image: Pixar
Several species of funnel weaver spiders are a family of fast-crawling spiders that spit out distinctive funnel-shaped webs and are known for cannibalism, in which females kill and eat males after mating. This makes pairings far less attractive to male spiders, who have to risk their lives to reproduce. To overcome this, some species develop an unusual behavior called narcissism.Symptoms of certain neurological disorders or diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy). According to a study published in the journal Current Zoology in late March, female spiders will lie motionless with their legs folded as if dead, allowing the male to move on without fear of becoming his mate. food. This makes it easier for female spiders to choose the best mate. life science Reported on March 29.
Researchers are aware of spiders being baited, but it was previously unknown whether female spiders voluntarily lie still for males, or whether males control the behavior.To find out what happened, the team experimented with funnel-web spiders of the species coniferous fernand then compare substitutions with similar behavior to determine whether the behavior is controlled by a male or a female spider.
In the experiments, the research team observed female spiny spiders under three conditions: spontaneous mating, feigned death (death) after external shaking, and anesthetized sleep. Afterwards, the spider froze to death. Researchers pulverized their carcasses to analyze the chemicals used to regulate the spiders’ behavior. This process allowed them to learn about chemical similarities between behaviors.
If narcolepsy resembles death, the behavior may be controlled by female spiders. But this behavior may be influenced by male spiders when they are close to anesthesia, says evolutionary biologist Mark Elgar of the University of Melbourne in Australia. It turned out that replacement was almost identical to death. The team concluded that substitutability is controlled by female spiders and plays a role in helping them choose a mate. If the female spider doesn’t accept a mate and feigns death, pairing doesn’t happen. Shortly after mating ends, the male spider retreats and the female jumps up and crawls away.
they are kang (Theo life science)
