In this work, we presented a detailed description of the mating biology of the blackwidow Latrodectus tredecimguttatus, native to the Balkans, and invesigeted some of the genus -specific mating behaviours . All observed behaviours were also quantified. Additionally, we searched for individual differences in aggression in both males and females and looked for a connection between female aggression towards prey and sexual cannibalism. We attempted to find support for the “aggressive spill over hypothesis”. All of the above was tested in behavioural personality trials, standardized for each sex and finally ending in a mating trial. We described three so far unobserved behaviours for this species, includingmale silk deposition on the female web, destruction of the female web by the male and oral sexual encounters. We showed that individual differences in aggression are indeed present in males, but not females, and that they do have an impact on the occurrence of sexual cannibalism. More aggressive males mated sooner, more often, longer and were generally more active. Females also attacked less active males more often. As expected, we found no evidence supporting the “aggressive spill over hypothesis”, which suggests that sexual cannibalism is the females’ way of controlling copulations, whether it be to prevent monopolization or to promote heterogeneity in offspring.
|
