Sexual Cannibalism - Male Self-sacrifice

Male Self-sacrifice

Male reproductive success can be determined by their number of fathered offspring, and monogyny is seen quite often in sexually cannibalistic species. Males are willing to sacrifice themselves, or lose their reproductive organs in order to ensure their paternity from one mating instance . Whether it is by spontaneous programmed death, or the male catapulting into the mouth of the female, these self-sacrificing males will die in order for prolonged copulation to occur. Males of many of these species cannot replenish sperm stores, therefore they must exhibit these extreme behaviors in order to ensure sperm transfer and fathered offspring during their one and only mating instance. An example of such behavior can be seen in the Australian redback spider. The males of this species "somersault" into the mouths of the female after copulation has occurred, which has been shown to increase paternity by sixty five percent when compared to males that are not cannibalized. A majority of males in this species are likely to die on the search for a mate, so the male must sacrifice himself as an offering if it means prolonged copulation and doubled paternity . It is seen in many species that cannibalized males can mate for longer, thus have longer sperm transfers .