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


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

ofcapri

10-22-2009 11:13 AM

77 views

tags:

nature

ofcapri says:

"We were surprised to find that such a simple characteristic such as how small males are relative to females has such a large effect on the frequency of sexual cannibalism," states Shawn Wilder.

Add a Comment

Login to Comment. Not a member yet? Sign up

Today's Top Clips

visit the Top Clips page

View the Top Clips from October 22, 2009

Embed This Clip In Your Site...

<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/2ae5052b-89ba-42f1-ba18-5c1df528680a/0BE2088D-F458-477E-A02C-B9B23C5AFAB9/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/09/10/in.spiders.size.matters.small.males.are.more.often.meals" href="http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/09/10/in.spiders.size.matters.small.males.are.more.often.meals" style="font-size: 11px;">esciencenews.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/09/10/in.spiders.size.matters.small.males.are.more.often.meals"><H1 class="border-red">In spiders, size matters: Small males are more often meals</H1></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/09/10/in.spiders.size.matters.small.males.are.more.often.meals"><DIV class="article-images"><H2 class="border">Related images<BR /><SPAN class="inline-note">(click to enlarge)</SPAN></H2>    <DIV class="image-medium"><A title="A female wolf spider, <I>Hogna helluo</I>, consuming a male." rel="lightbox[field-image]" href="http://esciencenews.com/files/images/20080910501870.jpg"><IMG class="image image_medium" title="A female wolf spider, <I>Hogna helluo</I>, consuming a male." alt="A female wolf spider, <I>Hogna helluo</I>, consuming a male." src="http://esciencenews.com/files/imagecache/image_medium/files/images/20080910501870.jpg" /></A><DIV class="caption">Shawn M. Wilder</DIV></DIV>
  </DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/09/10/in.spiders.size.matters.small.males.are.more.often.meals">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 <I>American Naturalist,</I> that the answer may be simpler than previously thought. Males are more likely to be eaten if they are much smaller than females, which likely affects how easy they are to catch.</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/0BE2088D-F458-477E-A02C-B9B23C5AFAB9/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

New from the makers of Clipmarks: Amplify.com - Don't just share the news...Amplify it!

Clipmarks: Home; New Clips; Top Clips; Dashboard

Popular Topics: News; Life; Science; Technology; Entertainment

Get Started: Sign Up; Install Clipping Tool; How Clipping Works; Clip-to-Blog™; ClipSearch

Tools and Resources: FAQ; ClipWeek; Top Clippers; Top Tags; Site Map

About Clipmarks: About Us; Contact; Copyright; Privacy; EULA

Search Options

Today's Top Clips