Tidarren argo

Tidarren argo is a spider from Yemen. The species is remarkable by its male amputating one of its palps before maturation and entering his adult life with one palp only. It adopts exceptional copulatory behaviour: when the male achieves genitalia coupling with his palp, the latter is torn off by the female. The separated gonopod remains attached to the female's epigynum for approximately 4 hours and continues to function independently, serving as a mating plug. While this happens, the female feeds on the male. Emasculation thus synchronizes sexual cannibalism and sperm transfer, lengthening the interval between copulations. This mating behaviour might allow for the continuation of insemination by the dismembered palp.[1]

Tidarren argo
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Arachnida
Order:
Araneae
Suborder:
Araneomorphae
Family:
Theridiidae
Genus:
Tidarren
Species:
T. argo
Binomial name
Tidarren argo
Knoflach & van Harten 2006

References
  1. Knoflach, Barbara; van Harten, Antonius (2001). "Tidarren argo sp. nov. (Araneae: Theridiidae) and its exceptional copulatory behaviour: emasculation, male palpal organ as a mating plug and sexual cannibalism". Journal of Zoology. 254 (4): 449–459. doi:10.1017/S0952836901000954. ISSN 0952-8369.

Further reading
  • Janet Leonard; Alex Cordoba-Aguilar (18 June 2010). The Evolution of Primary Sexual Characters in Animals. Oxford University Press. pp. 278–. ISBN 978-0-19-971703-3.
  • Knoflach, Barbara; Van Harten, Antonius (2006). "The one‐palped spider generaTidarrenandEchinotheridionin the Old World (Araneae, Theridiidae), with comparative remarks onTidarrenfrom America". Journal of Natural History. 40 (25–26): 1483–1616. doi:10.1080/00222930600940993. ISSN 0022-2933.
  • Michalik, Peter, et al. "The spermatozoa of the one-palped spider Tidarren argo (Araneae, Theridiidae)." Journal of Arachnology 33.2 (2005): 562-568.


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