Alternative mating tactics in brown widow spiders: mating with
or without male self-sacrifice does not affect the copulatory
mechanism

J 2025

Alternative mating tactics in brown widow spiders: mating with or without male self-sacrifice does not affect the copulatory mechanism

SENTENSKÁ, Lenka; Dante POY; Maydianne C B ANDRADE a Gabriele B UHL

Základní údaje

Originální název

Alternative mating tactics in brown widow spiders: mating with or without male self-sacrifice does not affect the copulatory mechanism

Autoři

SENTENSKÁ, Lenka; Dante POY; Maydianne C B ANDRADE a Gabriele B UHL

Vydání

Frontiers in Zoology, BMC, 2025, 1742-9994

Další údaje

Jazyk

angličtina

Typ výsledku

Článek v odborném periodiku

Obor

10613 Zoology

Stát vydavatele

Velká Británie a Severní Irsko

Utajení

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Odkazy

URL, URL

Impakt faktor

Impact factor: 2.600 v roce 2024

Označené pro přenos do RIV

Ano

Organizační jednotka

Přírodovědecká fakulta

Klíčová slova anglicky

Araneae; Copulation; Immature mating; Microtomography; Cannibalism

Štítky

14314020, rivok

Příznaky

Mezinárodní význam, Recenzováno

Změněno: 26. 1. 2026 14:21, Mgr. Marie Novosadová Šípková, DiS.

Anotace

V originále

Background Male self-sacrifice during mating is one of the most extreme forms of male reproductive investment. In two species of widow spiders (genus Latrodectus), males trigger sexual cannibalism by "somersaulting" into the fangs of the female after copulatory coupling is achieved. In this position, sperm are transferred with the secondary sexual organs, the transformed pedipalps of the male, while the female starts feeding on his opisthosoma. In Latrodectus hasselti and L. geometricus, matings also occur with subadult females (i.e. females in their last moulting stage) but during these "immature" matings, males do not perform the somersault. Consequently, mating positions differ dramatically between matings with adult and subadult females. Here, we investigate the copulatory mechanism of adult and immature matings in the brown widow L. geometricus by shock-freezing copulating pairs and 3D X-ray microtomography. We hypothesize differences in the copulatory mechanism and depth of insertion of the sperm transfer structures between the two mating tactics. Results We found that the copulatory mechanism does not differ between adult and immature mating tactics and do not depend on whether a somersault occurs. Furthermore, the somersault does not improve intromission depth of the male sperm transfer organs into the female sperm storage organs. Conclusions Our results suggest that the somersault has evolved solely due to the selective advantages of sexual cannibalism. The costs and benefits of both mating tactics need to be further explored using paternity studies in order to understand their relative adaptive value.

Citovat

SENTENSKÁ, Lenka; Dante POY; Maydianne C B ANDRADE a Gabriele B UHL. Alternative mating tactics in brown widow spiders: mating with or without male self-sacrifice does not affect the copulatory mechanism. Frontiers in Zoology. BMC, 2025, roč. 22, č. 1, s. 1-12. ISSN 1742-9994. Dostupné z: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-025-00560-8.

@article{2546727,
   author = {Sentenská, Lenka and Poy, Dante and Andrade, Maydianne C B and Uhl, Gabriele B},
   article_number = {1},
   doi = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-025-00560-8},
   keywords = {Araneae; Copulation; Immature mating; Microtomography; Cannibalism},
   language = {eng},
   issn = {1742-9994},
   journal = {Frontiers in Zoology},
   title = {Alternative mating tactics in brown widow spiders: mating with or without male self-sacrifice does not affect the copulatory mechanism},
   url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-025-00560-8},
   volume = {22},
   year = {2025}
}

TY  - JOUR
ID  - 2546727
AU  - Sentenská, Lenka - Poy, Dante - Andrade, Maydianne C B - Uhl, Gabriele B
PY  - 2025
TI  - Alternative mating tactics in brown widow spiders: mating with or without male self-sacrifice does not affect the copulatory mechanism
JF  - Frontiers in Zoology
VL  - 22
IS  - 1
SP  - 1-12
EP  - 1-12
PB  - BMC
SN  - 17429994
KW  - Araneae
KW  - Copulation
KW  - Immature mating
KW  - Microtomography
KW  - Cannibalism
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-025-00560-8
N2  - Background Male self-sacrifice during mating is one of the most extreme forms of male reproductive investment. In two species of widow spiders (genus Latrodectus), males trigger sexual cannibalism by "somersaulting" into the fangs of the female after copulatory coupling is achieved. In this position, sperm are transferred with the secondary sexual organs, the transformed pedipalps of the male, while the female starts feeding on his opisthosoma. In Latrodectus hasselti and L. geometricus, matings also occur with subadult females (i.e. females in their last moulting stage) but during these "immature" matings, males do not perform the somersault. Consequently, mating positions differ dramatically between matings with adult and subadult females. Here, we investigate the copulatory mechanism of adult and immature matings in the brown widow L. geometricus by shock-freezing copulating pairs and 3D X-ray microtomography. We hypothesize differences in the copulatory mechanism and depth of insertion of the sperm transfer structures between the two mating tactics. Results We found that the copulatory mechanism does not differ between adult and immature mating tactics and do not depend on whether a somersault occurs. Furthermore, the somersault does not improve intromission depth of the male sperm transfer organs into the female sperm storage organs. Conclusions Our results suggest that the somersault has evolved solely due to the selective advantages of sexual cannibalism. The costs and benefits of both mating tactics need to be further explored using paternity studies in order to understand their relative adaptive value.
ER  -

SENTENSKÁ, Lenka; Dante POY; Maydianne C B ANDRADE a Gabriele B UHL. Alternative mating tactics in brown widow spiders: mating with or without male self-sacrifice does not affect the copulatory mechanism. \textit{Frontiers in Zoology}. BMC, 2025, roč.~22, č.~1, s.~1-12. ISSN~1742-9994. Dostupné z: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-025-00560-8.

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