The duration of copulation in spiders: comparative patterns

WA Museum Records and Supplements | Updated 9 years ago

Abstract - The duration of copulation in spiders varies both-within and between species, and in the latter by several orders of magnitude. The sources of this variation are explored in comparative analyses of the duration of copulation and other life-history variables of 135 species of spiders from 26 families. The duration of copulation is correlated with body size within several species, but the pattern is not consistent and more generally there is no inter-specific covariation between these variables. The duration of copulation within orb-weaving spiders is associated with both the location of mating and the frequency of sexual cannibalism, suggesting that the length of copulation is limited by the risk of predation. Finally, entelegyne spiders copulate for longer than haplogyne spiders, a pattern that can be interpreted in terms of male mating strategies or the complexity of their copulatory apparatus.