Male Black Widows Destroy Webs Of Potential Mates To Curb Competition

  • 9 years ago
Scientists have found that male black widow spiders can be downright hostile to the female companion they’re pursuing.

Considering that the black widow spider got its name because females sometimes eat their mates, it would seem the males of the species approach cautiously. 

Yet, scientists have found that the spiders can be downright hostile to the female companion they’re pursuing. 

A study performed by researchers at Canada’s Simon Fraser University showed that a male will destroy the web of a potential mate to dissuade the competition from calling. 

Among the destructive measures employed by males are drastically reducing the web size and masking the female’s pheromones. 

In the black widow world, we

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