bogleech:

spoonyruncible:

bogleech:

demiurge1138:

hectocotyli-everywhere:

THERE IS LITERALLY A BDSM SPIDER are you fucking kidding me.

I taught my AP Bio class about the cannibal bondage spider when we were talking about sexual selection. It was a huge hit

Basically the way this mating ritual evolved, the female can get out at any time but the male covering her in silk became the signal that it’s mating time, not eating time. After mating is done though she might switch back to just wanting to eat, so the fact that it takes her a second or two to unravel herself is what saves him.

It’s worth mentioning though that mate cannibalism is actually a rarity among spiders, not a rule. In fact even in black widows it almost NEVER happens.

One notable exception are a few spiders in which the male, having fulfilled his only other purpose and unable to mate again anyway, pushes himself onto the female’s fangs and forces her to eat him so she’ll for-sure have enough energy to nurture the eggs.

Dang it, Bogleech, why are we on the exact same frequency in the collective unconscious? Literally this was me yesterday on Skype:

This is not the first time this has happened and I am on to you!!!

well once you know about what is certainly the most romantic animal in the world it’s hard not to drop it into every conversation you can

@gluttonace I think this is somethign relevant to your interests