Males often employ a great deal of effort and energy in order to please a mate. Humans have rituals that often include lavish meals, flowers, chocolates, and jewelry. In animal species, males often exhibit beautiful coloration or produce songs in an effort to “catch a girl’s attention.” One need not look very far to observe this courtship ritual in the animal kingdom. But, how many males are willing to die for their mate?

Examples of sexual cannibalism in many species, such as the black widow, are well known. But researchers now have found a species in which the male self-destructs during mating (see Foellmer and Fairburn, 2003). Foellmer and Fairburn believe that in these cases, unlike that of the black widow, the males “follow an adaptive strategy by sacrificing themselves and allowing the female to eat them” (2003, p. 03BL0092.S1). John Whitfield, writing for Nature Science Update, explained: “Male spiders have two sex organs, called palps, which they insert into the female one after another. When the spider Argiope aurantia uses his second palp, he suffers an irreversible seizure” (2003). Matthias Foellmer, one of the authors of the paper, commented on the suicidal acts of the male: “Immediately after, he becomes motionless. Males show the typical dead posture, with legs folded under the body. Their heart stops within 15 minutes” (Whitfield, 2003).

While this may seem bizarre, there is some rationale behind the male sacrificing himself. The death of the male causes his inflated palp to remain wedged inside the female, preventing her from mating again. This “last dance” gives the male’s sperm sufficient time to fertilize the eggs inside the female. Foellmer noted: “Other males try hard to pull the dead male out, but often fail” (Whitfield, 2003). Adding insult to injury, females will then enjoy a tasty meal of the deceased before moving on. The researchers are confident that the role played by the female is that of only a bystander. During their experimentation, they documented a male spider trying to mate with the carcass of a mealworm beetle larva that was present on a web. After the male had inserted his second palp he immediately assumed the dead posture. Foellmer and Daphne observed: “as the female was not in contact with the male, it is obvious that male death occurs even without contact with the female” (p. 03BL0092.S2).

The researchers then tried to explain away the obvious question: Why would nature ever select for a system in which the male sacrifices itself in order to mate? They point out that this self-sacrifice “is expected to evolve when the benefits of this investment outweigh the cost of foregoing future mating opportunities” (p. 03BL0092.S2). They speculate that the males may benefit by contributing their soma to increase the quantity and/or quality of the female’s offspring, or they may increase their paternity since they are wedged together longer and the females are less likely to re-mate. The authors concluded by noting: “Opportunistic mating is thus an important component in the evolution of the mating system of this species, and we postulate that spontaneous male death has evolved in that context.” Do they seriously expect us to believe that these spiders evolved a mating system in which the male has a seizure and dies from the mating process? While we welcome the data regarding the mechanism behind their mating system, the interpretation that they suggest is absurd. Evolutionists have seen the writing on the wall, and realize that they must be prepared to answer complex questions such as: “Why would a male spider select to sacrifice himself in order to mate?” Surely they understand that being dead does not lead to the “survival of the fittest.”

For a comprehensive look at the truth regarding the origin of sexual reproduction and gender, see: “The Origin of Gender and Sexual Reproduction”).

Foellmer, Matthias W. and Daphne J. Fairburn (2003), “Spontaneous Male Death During Copulation in an Orb-Weaving Spider,” Proceedings of the Royal Society London B., doi:10.1098/rsbl.2003.0042.

Whitfield, John (2003), “Spiders Go From Wed to Dead,” Nature Science Update, [On-line], URL: http://www.nature.com/nsu/030623/030623-4.html.