In spiders, size matters: Small males are more often meals

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A female wolf spider Hogna helluo consuming a male. Credit: Shawn M. Wilder
A female wolf spider, Hogna helluo, consuming a male. Credit: Shawn M. Wilder
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Female spiders are voracious predators and consume a wide range of prey, which sometimes includes their mates. A number of hypotheses have been proposed for why females eat males before or after mating. Researchers Shawn Wilder and Ann Rypstra from Miami University in Ohio found, in a study published in the September issue of the American Naturalist, that the answer may be simpler than previously thought.


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