Wasp spider

Females often eat the males after mating, a behaviour called sexual cannibalism. Males improve their chances by waiting near an immature female's web until she moults into adulthood, when her jaws are still soft. In one study, this raised male survival from 20% to 97%.1

Some males block other males from mating with the same female. They do this by losing one of their pedipalps, which allows them to mate only twice.1

Males are small enough to enter a female's web without being detected, which helps them mate.1

Webs with a stabilimentum are damaged less often by birds flying through them, although its exact purpose is not known.1

In summer 2006, researchers found an influx of wasp spiders in the UK. The yellow stripes on this population are more cream-coloured.1