miniClip of a Steatoda (false widow spider) as it eats mate

🍽️ Bad Romance: A False Widow’s Idea of a Dinner Date

If you thought the modern dating scene was tough, spare a thought for the male Steatoda spider. Captured right here on an everyday brick wall, this short macro footage shows a female False Widow partaking in a bit of post-courtship snacking—by literally eating her mate.

Usually, a male spider approaches a female’s web with extreme caution. He plucks the silk threads like a guitar string to signal, “Hey, I’m a boyfriend, not a bug!” Unfortunately for this little guy, his partner decided he could be both.

While their infamous cousins, the true Black Widows, get all the Hollywood press for this behavior, our common False Widows are fully capable of the same brutal “sexual cannibalism.”

Why do female spiders eat their mates?

• The Ultimate Protein Shake: Producing egg sacs takes a massive amount of energy. A male who hangs around too long after the deed is done is just a convenient, protein-packed snack.
• Bad Timing: If the female is already hungry when he arrives, romance goes straight out the window.
• Evolutionary Sacrifice: Biologists say his sacrifice gives his future offspring a better chance of survival. (Though we highly doubt he sees it that way).

Next time your partner steals a chip off your plate or complains about your restaurant choice, just remember this video. It could be much, much worse. You could be a male Steatoda.

Taken from post https://www.michaeltyler.co.uk/back-in-twyford-wharf/

Back in Twyford Wharf