Sexual cannibalism and sperm competition in the golden orb-web spider Nephila plumipes (Araneoidea):: female and male perspectives

Mating systems are frequently shaped by conflicts over reproductive interests between males and females. Sexual cannibalism can be an especially dramatic manifestation of such conflicts. However, the resolutions of this conflict differ among sexually cannibalistic spider species. Cannibalism may be in the interest of both sexes when females consume males as a foraging decision to improve fecundity and/or males sacrifice their bodies to increase fertilization success. In other species, females exert sequential choice of partner by selectively terminating copulation through cannibalism while males fail to obtain a paternity advantage. Here, we investigate the adaptive value of cannibalism in the orb-web spider Nephila plumipes where 60% of males do not survive copulation. Virgin females in poor condition are more frequently cannibalistic and more likely to kill large males, but the frequency of cannibalism among mated females is not influenced by these factors. Instead, males that mate with mated females increase their fertilization success by being cannibalized. Cannibalized males generally mate for longer, but longer copulations correspond with increased paternity only in mated females. The amount of sperm from particular males that a female stored was not influenced by any of the measured variables. The number of sperm stored was not related to paternity, nor was there any detectable reduction in sperm number after females had reproduced. Our data suggest that the conflict between the sexes differs between virgin and mated females. Females should always cannibalize a male, but males only gain from cannibalism when mating with mated females, not when mating with virgin females. Interestingly, the frequencies of cannibalism are not different in matings with virgin or mated females.