Sex Role–Dependent Behavioral and Architectural Divergence in a Jumping Spider

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  Sex Role–Dependent Behavioral and Architectural Divergence in a Jumping Spider ABSTRACT Sex differences in behavior and functional traits are often attributed to differences in mating effort intensity, but the role of sex-specific parental demands remains poorly understood. Using the jumping spider Toxeus maxillosus —where males engage in mate searching and courtship without providing parental care, while females provide extended maternal care from egg attendance to offspring maturity (around 3 months)—we conducted an exploratory investigation into whether these distinct selective pressures led to divergence in spatial behaviors and nest architecture. Results revealed that males and females showed equivalent accuracy, latency, and learning-related performance in both a route-planning test under water stress and a color-pattern associative memory task. In contrast, during nest-construction assays, females built complex, multi-entrance structures that closely matched the container'...

To Mate or to Steal Food? A Male Spider’s Dilemma

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To Mate or to Steal Food? A Male Spider’s Dilemma

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.

Kuntner, M., Xu, X., & Li, D. (2025). To Mate or to Steal Food? A Male Spider’s Dilemma. Diversity, 17(4), 281. https://doi.org/10.3390/d17040281 DOI is still being registered. Please use direct hyperlink for page: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/17/4/281