I have read before that female spiders have been known to eat their mates after or during copulation. The most widely known species that exhibits this behavior is the black widow spider. Since pre-mating rituals involves courting and giving of gifts to attract the female, does it affect the predatory behavior of the females in a way such as delaying the predatory behavior or preventing them from eating the males?
I'm not a specialist but I think there's a fairly extensive literature on these matters. I would recommend you to check up papers by Andrade and others - should be easy to find on Google Scholar (or ISI Web of Knowledge if you have access).
Search for e.g. "sexual cannibalism" and "spider" and you should find relevant literature.
Best wishes, Trond
I think this book is a good start
The Evolution of Mating Systems in Insects and Arachnids
The Evolution of Mating Systems in Insects and Arachnids
Edited by Jae C. Choe
Edited by Bernard J. Crespi
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print Publication Year:1997
javascript:Online Publication Date:May 2010
Happy reading
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