Reversal of the Black Widow myth: Some male spiders prefer to eat old females rather than mate with them

The Black Widow spider gets its name from the popular belief that female spiders eat their male suitors after mating. However, a new study has shown that the tendency to consume a potential mate is also true of some types of male spider. The study by Lenka Sentenska and Stano Pekar from Masaryk University in the Czech Republic finds that male spiders of the Micaria sociabilis species are more likely to eat the females than be eaten. The paper, published in Springer's journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, outlines possible reasons for this behavior.

In nature, female choice of mate is commonly seen as the overriding factor affecting male mating success. Sexual cannibalism is a form of female mate choice with low-quality mates more likely to be cannibalized. However, there is not as much evidence about how males may sometimes dictate the choice of partner. The researchers suggest that in the Micaria sociabilis species, reverse cannibalism seen may be a type of male mate choice.