Spiders

To a female orb web spider, a suitable male can look like a mate - and a meal. For these spiders, the dating game has turned into a deadly dance of evolutionary one-upsmanship. The female spider can choose when to cut off [intimate:close] relations by eating her partner, or kicking him out. This dynamic has led males to an unlikely [strategy:procedure] to make sure they have some say in the matter: self-castration.Males are able to leave part or all of their organ inside of a female, which [decreases:releases] the odds the female will be able to mate again. But new research shows that when a male leaves his whole kit-and-caboodle behind, his likelihood of fathering the next batch of eggs is much higher. Why? His parting gift keeps on giving, even after he is gone.This remote- copulation [technique:feature] actually boosts the amount and speed of sperm [transferred:regulated] to the female. The behaviour is [described:explained] in the journal Biology Letters. So for these unlucky fellas, it is better to have loved - and lost.