Female black widow spider mates with and eats multiple males

By Christa Lesté-Lasserre

A South American black widow spider starts biting, wrapping up and eating her willing partner before they have finished mating – and then mates with (and eats) another male.

“Usually there are some advantages to the male for being eaten during mating, like longer copulations as well as decreased female receptivity to future males,” says Luciana Baruffaldi at the University of Toronto, Scarborough, Canada. “In this case, though, we don’t yet know how the male benefits from sexual cannibalism.”

Despite a reputation for eating their mates, female widow spiders …