Genetics triggers male black widows to blackflip into death, study finds

A wild widow spider behavior involving a backflip into death during sex has a simple genetic explanation, new research finds.

Male redback spiders (Latrodectus hasselti) — Australia's version of black widows — flip into females' fangs while mating in order to make sex last longer. They also constrict their abdomens — a maneuver that seems to help them survive the experience of being eaten alive long enough to finish transferring their sperm. Then, they break off their sperm-transferring organs, known as pedipalps, into the females like a cork on a bottle, which prevents other males from inseminating them.

Intriguingly, a close New Zealand cousin of the redback, the katipō (Latrodectus katipo), doesn't do any of this. ‪There are no backflips and no cannibalism — just a respectful courtship dance and a polite parting of ways afterward. That difference offered researchers an opportunity to understand the genetics of the more gymnastic mating behavior.

"What makes this system so intriguing is the fact that we are dealing with two species here, which are very closely related," Read Entire Article