20.500.12556/DiRROS-22068 To mate or to steal food? A male spider’s dilemma To mate or to steal food? We report a sequence of unusual male behaviors observed in Nephila pilipes (Fabricius, 1793) (Araneae: Nephilidae Simon, 1894), a sexually size dimorphic tropical spider species in Singapore. We documented a male suitor using his mouth parts (chelicerae) rather than his copulatory organs (pedipalps) to repeatedly probe female genitals. The behaviors may have served as a strategy to assess the female’s mating status, functioned as a courtship strategy, or, most plausibly, represented an attempt to remove a genital plug. The documented chrono-sequence culminated in the male’s attempted commensalism, followed by an aggressive attack by the female, resulting in near-fatal injury to the male. Notably, the attack did not escalate into cannibalism, suggesting that the extreme size difference in Nephila may render small males unappealing as prey. sexual size dimorphism eSSD mating syndrome genital plugging sexual cannibalism zoology ethology spolna velikostna dvoličnost spolni kanibalizem zoologija etologija Nephila pilipes Nephilidae true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Neznano 2025-04-18 11:40:37 2025-04-18 11:40:37 2025-10-24 03:50:28 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2025 0 0 Nasl. z nasl. zaslona; Opis vira z dne 18. 4. 2025; 1-7 str. iss. 4, [article no.] 281 Vol. 17 2025 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno apc 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2025-04-17 59 1424-2818 10.3390/d17040281 233274883 https://doi.org/10.3390/d17040281 1 305782ce-1c39-11f0-963a-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=31881 RAZ_Kuntner_Matjaz_2025.pdf RAZ_Kuntner_Matjaz_2025.pdf 1 B15F058BF04FFD414AFCA260584A3486 3d15311eea183948c12b2a5585c6b89f906b06f9a00ba762ca75b1b8a3d2e9ed 5b146082-1c39-11f0-963a-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=31883 Nacionalni inštitut za biologijo 0 0 0