Sexual cannibalism

Not to be confused with Vorarephilia.
The prevalence of sexual cannibalism gives several species of Latrodectus the common name "black widow spider".

Sexual cannibalism is when an animal, usually the female, cannibalizes its mate prior to, during, or after copulation.[1] It is a trait observed in many arachnid orders, several insect and crustacean clades,[2] gastropods, and some snake species. Several hypotheses to explain this seemingly paradoxical behavior have been proposed. The adaptive foraging hypothesis,[3] aggressive spillover hypothesis[4] and mistaken identity hypothesis[5] are among the proposed hypotheses to explain how sexual cannibalism evolved. This behavior is believed to have evolved as a manifestation of sexual conflict, occurring when the reproductive interests of males and females differ.[6] In many species that exhibit sexual cannibalism, the female consumes the male upon detection. Females of cannibalistic species are generally hostile and unwilling to mate; thus many males of these species have developed adaptive behaviors to counteract female aggression.[7][8]

  1. ^ Polis, Gary A.; Farley, Roger D. (1979). "Behavior and Ecology of Mating in the Cannibalistic Scorpion, Paruroctonus mesaensis Stahnke (Scorpionida: Vaejovidae)". The Journal of Arachnology. 7 (1): 33–46. ISSN 0161-8202. JSTOR 3704952.
  2. ^ Buskirk, Ruth E.; Frohlich, Cliff; Ross, Kenneth G. (1984). "The Natural Selection of Sexual Cannibalism". The American Naturalist. 123 (5): 612–625. doi:10.1086/284227. ISSN 0003-0147. JSTOR 2461241.
  3. ^ Blamires, Sean J. (2011). "Nutritional implications for sexual cannibalism in a sexually dimorphic orb web spider". Austral Ecology. 36 (4): 389–394. Bibcode:2011AusEc..36..389B. doi:10.1111/j.1442-9993.2010.02161.x. ISSN 1442-9985.
  4. ^ Arnqvist, Göran (1992). "Courtship Behavior and Sexual Cannibalism in the Semi-Aquatic Fishing Spider, Dolomedes fimbriatus (Clerck) (Araneae: Pisauridae)". The Journal of Arachnology. 20 (3): 222–226. ISSN 0161-8202. JSTOR 3705884.
  5. ^ Gould, S. Only his wings remained. Natural History 93, 10-18 (1984).
  6. ^ Chapman, Tracey; Arnqvist, Göran; Bangham, Jenny; Rowe, Locke (2003). "Sexual conflict". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 18 (1): 41–47. doi:10.1016/S0169-5347(02)00004-6.
  7. ^ Zhang, Shichang; Kuntner, Matjaž; Li, Daiqin (2011). "Mate binding: male adaptation to sexual conflict in the golden orb-web spider (Nephilidae: Nephila pilipes)" (PDF). Animal Behaviour. 82 (6): 1299–1304. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.09.010.
  8. ^ Fromhage, Lutz; Schneider, Jutta M. (2005-03-01). "Safer sex with feeding females: sexual conflict in a cannibalistic spider". Behavioral Ecology. 16 (2): 377–382. doi:10.1093/beheco/ari011. ISSN 1465-7279.