| Title: | To mate or to steal food? A male spider’s dilemma |
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| Authors: | ID Kuntner, Matjaž (Author)
ID Xu, Xin (Author)
ID Li, Daiqin (Author) |
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| Files: |  URL - Source URL, visit https://doi.org/10.3390/d17040281
 PDF - Presentation file, download (595,33 KB)
MD5: B15F058BF04FFD414AFCA260584A3486
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| Language: | English |
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| Typology: | 1.03 - Other scientific articles |
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| Organization: |  NIB - National Institute of Biology
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| Abstract: | 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. |
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| Keywords: | sexual size dimorphism, eSSD mating syndrome, genital plugging, sexual cannibalism, zoology, ethology |
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| Publication status: | Published |
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| Publication version: | Version of Record |
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| Publication date: | 17.04.2025 |
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| Year of publishing: | 2025 |
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| Number of pages: | 1-7 str. |
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| Numbering: | Vol. 17, iss. 4, [article no.] 281 |
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| PID: | 20.500.12556/DiRROS-22068  |
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| UDC: | 59 |
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| ISSN on article: | 1424-2818 |
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| DOI: | 10.3390/d17040281 |
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| COBISS.SI-ID: | 233274883 |
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| Note: | Nasl. z nasl. zaslona;
Opis vira z dne 18. 4. 2025;
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| Publication date in DiRROS: | 18.04.2025 |
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| Views: | 960 |
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| Downloads: | 342 |
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