Not sure on the specifics, but I’ve dealt with my fair share of black widows. Their webs usually contain a shriveled up corpse of a male just kinda hanging about.
Not sure how common it with other widows, but the Australian redback male will pretty much shove his abdomen right into the females mouth parts while mating.
But that’s when it get’s really messed up … she won’t kill him right away and they will continue to mate while he’s getting his insides digested.
After hearing that mantises only eat their mate in captivity, I kinda wonder if the same is true of black widows.
Not sure on the specifics, but I’ve dealt with my fair share of black widows. Their webs usually contain a shriveled up corpse of a male just kinda hanging about.
I saw a wild pair of mantids as a child and the female was definitely eating a male.
Well, where have you grown up? Are you sure you are free?
I live here.
Respectfully, do you recall a source or reference? I’d personally like to know if this another one of those “take for granted” childhood facts
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/preymates/
That says nothing about captivity, though.
And no, widows spiders don’t always eat their mate, but it common in some species. And often the male is the one initiating it.
The male initiates being eaten?
So… they’re vore fetishists?
Not sure how common it with other widows, but the Australian redback male will pretty much shove his abdomen right into the females mouth parts while mating.
But that’s when it get’s really messed up … she won’t kill him right away and they will continue to mate while he’s getting his insides digested.
Seed and feed
Read the article again, it says this is not common to adequately fed females, nothing about captivity.
Some mantids can only copulate after their head has been eaten, their body still is doing the deed while beheaded.
Pretty weird kink.