Study finds cannibalism helps some spiders produce more offspring

(Phys.org) -- Researchers have known for years that many female spiders kill their mates, either before or after mating and some even eat them, and while many theories have arisen as to why this occurs, this newest instance appears to be the most bizarre yet. A team of biologists from the University of Pittsburgh have found, as they describe in their paper published in the journal Animal Behavior, that females of one species of spider that eat males, tend to produce thicker egg cases out of which emerge more hatchlings, than those that don’t.

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