Researchers discover Spider "Chastity Belt"


	Researchers discover Spider "Chastity Belt"

2muchInfo

3-5-2007 9:20 PM

346 views

tags:

spiders, german scientists, copulation techniques, chastity belt, behavioral ecology, bonn university

2muchInfo says:

After setting the tone by shaking the female's web, the male has only seconds to have sex before the larger female kills him.

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/9a2cc142-bf92-4c4d-9719-48f1548d9ed8/A512989E-11AB-45F8-9179-7851345BD1A7/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyid=2007-03-05T184707Z_01_L05387329_RTRUKOC_0_US-GERMANY-SPIDER-ODD.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-R1-MostViewed-2" href="http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyid=2007-03-05T184707Z_01_L05387329_RTRUKOC_0_US-GERMANY-SPIDER-ODD.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-R1-MostViewed-2" style="font-size: 11px;">today.reuters.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyid=2007-03-05T184707Z_01_L05387329_RTRUKOC_0_US-GERMANY-SPIDER-ODD.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-R1-MostViewed-2"><div align="center"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/today.reuters.com/img/5950E686-85FF-4D05-B6AA-BCE884BBBC8C" alt="" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyid=2007-03-05T184707Z_01_L05387329_RTRUKOC_0_US-GERMANY-SPIDER-ODD.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-R1-MostViewed-2"><P>BERLIN (Reuters) - A new study by German scientists of spiders' copulation techniques found that males leave part of their sex organ inside their female partner as a sort of "chastity belt" to deter rivals.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyid=2007-03-05T184707Z_01_L05387329_RTRUKOC_0_US-GERMANY-SPIDER-ODD.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-R1-MostViewed-2"><P>"By breaking off parts of their intromittent organs inside a virgin female, males can reduce sperm competition and thereby increase their paternity success," the Bonn University researchers wrote in the journal "Behavioral Ecology".</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyid=2007-03-05T184707Z_01_L05387329_RTRUKOC_0_US-GERMANY-SPIDER-ODD.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-R1-MostViewed-2"><P>After setting the tone by shaking the female's web, the male has only seconds to have sex before the larger female kills him. In over 80 percent of cases, the tip of the male's genital organ breaks off inside the female.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyid=2007-03-05T184707Z_01_L05387329_RTRUKOC_0_US-GERMANY-SPIDER-ODD.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-R1-MostViewed-2"><P>This appears to be the result of a hasty getaway -- but also leaves behind a sort of chastity belt that keeps other males away, the study showed.</P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/A512989E-11AB-45F8-9179-7851345BD1A7/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>