Death and Sex
26th July 2009, SundayWasp Spiders are increasingly in evidence at the moment, and this morning I actually turned up a male in the moth trap! Males are much smaller than females in this species, though this because of gigantism in the female rather than the small size of the male. A piece of behaviour I have seen for the first time this year involves adult males hanging aroung on the webs of immature females, waiting for them to moult into an adult. Male Wasp Spiders are often eaten during courtship, and mating with a recently moulted female reduces the risk, as while the cuticle is soft, the jaws don’t work very well!
Adult Male Wasp Spider
Adult male (right) and immature female Wasp Spiders
Wild Hastings
wildRye
