Silk wrapping of nuptial gifts aids cheating behaviour in male spiders

Paolo Giovanni Ghislandi, Michelle Beyer, Patricia Velado and Cristina Tuni

Behavioral Ecology, 2017, vol. 28, issue 3, 744-749

Abstract: Lay Summary Males can evolve cheating mating strategies to reduce some of the costs associated with reproduction. Certain spiders court females by offering “cheaper” food gifts, consisting of leftovers from their meals rather than edible prey. We show that these males can afford to produce genuine gifts, but nevertheless cheat: they wrap their gifts in larger silk amounts, possibly to mask worthless contents and keep females engaged in feeding to prolong mating.Twitter: @CristinaTuni

Keywords: deception; mating strategies; nuptial gifts; sperm competition. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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