Male redback's bizarre death somersault during sex is in its genes
Male redback spiders somersault onto the female's fangs while mating and are killed. Researchers cross-bred the Aussie spiders with their NZ cousins to find out why.
A new study has uncovered the genetic basis for the bizarre sexual cannibalism behavior exhibited by male redback spiders during mating. These spiders, Latrodectus hasseltii, engage in a courtship ritual that involves the male somersaulting onto the female's mouth to be eaten while mating. Researchers from the University of Hamburg in Germany compared the activity of redback spiders to their close, but non-cannibalistic relative, the New Zealand katipō (Latrodectus katipo).
By breeding the two species together, the team discovered that the somersault behavior is inherited via sex chromosomes. This genetic link to the self-sacrificing death dance could help conserve the threatened katipō. The findings reveal that despite the complex nature of spider sex chromosomes, some behaviors can evolve independently, emphasizing the need to consider interspecies interactions when studying the evolution of new traits.
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