The animal world can be even more dangerous than we think, and if you're a spider, "finding a partner" is not only difficult, it can also be life-threatening.
For some spiders that need to weave webs, when males look for a mate, they need to walk a long and dangerous road - the webs of female spiders. They usually need to mate at the center of the female spider's web.
The male spider "courtship" arena. | Wiki
Female and male spiders tend to have considerable differences in appearance, in the case of wasp spiders, male spiders are generally about 4.5 mm long, while the average length of females is 15 mm, which means that females are about 3 times larger than males in body size.
If only the body shape looks threatening, the most dangerous thing is that the courtship of male spiders is often "suicidal". A study by the University of Toronto found that 65% of male spiders are eaten by females during mating. For example, the "black widow spider" we know as the "black widow spider" and the red-backed spider may have a self-sacrificing courtship process.
The difference in body size between male and female spiders is very large, and males can also face life-threatening courtships. | MPI of Animal Behavior/ Alex Jordan
For spiders, this can be a way to "maximize profits". Eating male spiders can not only prolong the mating time and provide sufficient nutrients for female spiders, but also multiply the number of female offspring, which is of great significance for breeding spider offspring.
However, this danger also exists during the spider courtship process. Male spiders often have to weigh the risk of death against the reward of finding an object, invoking special survival plans.
The brave male spider is about to go. | Pixabay
For spiders, elastic spider webs are not only a means of predation, but also a sense of threats from the outside environment.
Spiders secrete silk through the spiny glands at the tip of their abdomen, a sticky protein. After a complex weaving and reinforcement process, the result is a spider silk that is flaky, tubular or even tangled with each other.
A spiral spider web photographed in Western Australia, Australia. The weaving technology is superb. | Wiki
When the prey is stuck in the web, the victim is wrapped up in it and eaten by the spider. Although spider silk is fine, its tensile resistance is greater than that of steel of the same quality, and its elasticity is also very strong. The bulletproof vest with "superfiber" that the researchers are trying to develop is to use artificial spider silk with super strength and light flexibility.
Spiders, on the other hand, are keenly aware of the bounce or vibration generated in the spider web and react quickly.
Some spiders can even weave a "dress" for a tree. | Wiki
A small male golden spider sets out with the goal of finding an "object". It carefully entered the web of its favorite female and slowly approached the female without being spotted.
In this process, the male spider must master the sense of distance of "non-sincere do not disturb". If it is too enthusiastic or reckless, it will be detected by the female spider and even eaten. If you are too timid, you will be preempted by other "competitors".
While the male spider's courtship route seems more like a great escape to us, the researchers have tried to construct the theoretical framework of this "blind date", using some easier-to-understand models to explain how animals move in space.
If the male spider runs around like this, he will die | Giphy
The team at the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior proposed that the trajectory of male spiders in the spider web seems to be explained by the principle of planets orbiting stars, or the principle of electrons orbiting atomic nuclei.
Male Spider: What? To find an object, you must first learn physics? | Giphy
Returning to the cautious but brave courtship male spider, it cannot get too close to the female spider, because it is likely to be killed by the female spider as an "uninvited guest".
This seems to be similar to the principle of planets orbiting stars, if smaller planets or moons are too close, or go the wrong route, they may be attracted by the star's powerful attraction, and eventually lead to their own destruction, and the same is true for spiders.
This principle coincides with the spider behavior that researchers observed in the Panamanian rainforest.
There will also be intense competition between male spiders on the same web.
But at the same time, the male spider needs to pick up the spirit and seek courtship before the other male spiders arrive.
In this scenario, the researchers propose that these competing male spiders are like electrons swirling around the nucleus of an atom, perceiving and repelling each other. The physical model presented by the researchers could effectively explain why males move each other on the web, as well as the behavior of male spiders of different sizes fighting each other.
In the upper left corner, two male spiders "fight" during | courtship! doi:10.1073/pnas.2106269118/-/DCSupplemental
According to such physical formulas, larger male spiders seem to be able to reach their favorite objects at a faster rate. It turns out that if the male spider wants to find an object, it also needs to make itself "stronger".
But male spiders can also behave in mutual repulsion. | doi:10.1073/pnas.2106269118/-/DCSupplemental
However, the researchers also added that perhaps spiders are far from the atoms themselves, and spiders' "courtship moves" may not require them to have complex cognitive mechanisms and physical knowledge. But we can still use "atomic particles" to observe and explain spiders' ability to solve complex tasks, after all, they all have one thing in common: they are all magical creatures of nature.
The spiders all liked it! | Giphy
Written by Skin
Cover Source:
MPI of Animal Behavior/ Alex Jordan
Source:
https://docs.qq.com/doc/DU2lRTEhIenNsc1NS
The reproduced content represents the views of the author only
Does not represent the position of the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Source: Bring science home
Edit: Paarthurnax