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Wednesday, 19 August 2026

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Male black widows pass on survival trick against sexual cannibalism

Australian black widow males use a backflip to survive after mating and pass on this trick.

Males of the Australian black widow have developed a special ability to minimize the risk of being eaten after mating with females. These males perform a backflip to ensure their survival. This technique may be an inherited trait passed on to subsequent generations.

Observations indicating this behavior have been made by various researchers, who point out the remarkable attributes of this behavior. Mating in this spider species often ends fatally for the male, which makes this particular trick significant and potentially crucial for the species' reproduction through inheritance.

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