News Animals

These male spiders catapult away to avoid being cannibalized after sex

Male Philoponella prominens use hydraulic pressure to extend leg joints and launch to safety

image of male and female orb spiders mating

After mating, a male Philoponella prominens orb weaver spider (reddish brown) will use its front legs to catapult backward and escape becoming lunch for the female (dark brown).

S. Zhang

By Erin Garcia de Jesús

An act of acrobatics keeps males of one orb-weaving spider species from becoming their mates’ post-sex snack.

After mating, Philoponella prominens males catapult away from females at speeds up to nearly 90 centimeters per second, researchers report April 25 in Current Biology.