Here's one for a small discussion, and I'm expecting a few un-sensible answers also!

Why do female tarantulas eat the males?

What is the purely instinctual reaction that makes them want to eat the male sometimes before mating has even occurred?

I have my thoughts which I will add when I get home from work!

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I reckon that they eat the male to get extra protein for the eggsack

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My ArmyRed Knee Tarantula x 1(Sub-Adult)RCF Chile Rose x 1(Juvenile)Chile Flame x 1(Sling)Costa Rican Red x 2(slings)Salmon Pink x 10(nymphs)Red Tegu x 1

not much use if they kill the male before the mating is it....

Yours will son if it takes after you, a bottomless pit!

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There's many theories about this i think.

After mating, it could be to produce extra protein for the eggs... I have heard stories of communal Hysterocrates gigas males offering themselves to females as food... Breadwinner situation? Mum brings up the kids, dad delivers the food?

However, some males are killed before mating. It could be that the female isn't well fed enough or maybe is too far gone in her moult cycle to accept a male... The male will walk about in the females enclosure so maybe to them it just feels like vibrations from prey and they don't see it as a male.

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I recon its cos females are all power hungry, female spiders just show it differently

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How common is this really?

I know plenty of people offer their males up for 50/50 loan and accept the risks involved but is it better to send a male to a more experienced keeper to possibly stop the eating by splitting up the acton before it's too late? Or when breeding do people just let them carry on and not all will eat the male??

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If a female is going to eat a male there's often very little you can do. They're 10x faster than we'll ever be...

But in bout 10 matings i've attempted, i've lost 2 males.

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No matter how much experience even the best sometimes fail to save the male. That is why the males by breeders are seen as expendable

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"Tell me and I will forget, Show me and I will
Remember, involve me and I will understand"-Confucius 450BC


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqTzgNP2BK8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qZX9Dv0AI4

Yeah, theres a few theories as already mentioned really.

it's most likely either to be the male offering a nauptial gift (i.e himself as food) or the female simply not being receptive/unhappy with the male quality.

Its a bit strange how its only common in some orders of arachnids. It seems pretty much absent in harvestmen, with some species either offering a food gift from their stomach contents (which is cool because it's like they are kissing essentially) or essentially just forcing the female to mate...

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Brachypelma albopilosum (Charlotte)
100's of Harvestmen
Member of the BAS and AAS.