Investigating the natural history of widow spiders provides fascinating insights into behavioural adaptations to desert conditions and the evolution of sexual behaviour. Widow spiders in the Negev desert of Israel fine-tune their web-related behaviours in order to balance prey capture, escape from high desert temperatures, and protection from predators. The webs are also a platform for male courtship displays. Widow spider females are larger than males and are reputed to cannibalize their mates, but this is not always the case. Some widow males sacrifice themselves to the female during mating, and some mate with immature females, strategies that can be beneficial to the male if by these tactics females are prevented from mating with additional males. These tactics are indicative of an ongoing evolutionary conflict between the sexes over reproduction.
Yael Lubin is Professor emerita of Ecology at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. She has spent over 30 years at the Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, on the Sede Boqer Campus of the university, investigating ecology and behaviour of spiders. Her research on spiders include adaptations to deserts, the ecology and evolution of group-living, and the natural history and evolution of sexual behaviour. She also does applied research on the use of spiders in biological control of crop pests. Her Ph. D. in Zoology was from the University of Florida (USA), and she previously conducted research in many tropical countries including Panama, Ecuador and Papua New Guinea.
Moderation: Professor Dr. Gabriele Uhl