Risky mate search and male self-sacrifice in redback spiders

179 citations recorded by the source corpus.

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

Risky mate search and mate preference in the golden orb-web spider (Nephila plumipes) (2007, methodology): “Our survival estimate is in agreement with previous studies on other species with extreme sexual-size dimorphism (L. hasselti: 80–93% mortality, Andrade 2003; N. clavipes: 88% mortality, Vollrath 1980) and suggests that there are several size and condition-independent factors influencing mortality.”
Discrimination of airborne pheromones by mate- searching male western black widow spiders (Latrodectus hesperus): species- and population- specific responses (2004, background): “This wandering phase is likely to result in high mortality for males (e.g., Gwynne 1987; Andrade 2003).”
Males assess chemical signals to discriminate just-mated females from virgins in redback spiders (2007, background): “In web-building spiders, for example, males may experience high mortality when they abandon their webs in search of mates, and must engage in energetically expensive courtship when they reach a female (Vollrath & Parker 1992; Andrade 2003; Segoli et al. 2006; Kasumovic et al. 2007).”
Safer sex with feeding females: sexual conflict in a cannibalistic spider (2005, background): “It is tempting to speculate that pedipalp damage and sexual cannibalism might be causally linked in that pedipalp damage rules out the possibility of future matings, which in turn eliminates selection to avoid cannibalism (but see Andrade, 2003).”