SPIDER SEX... NOT WHAT YOU'D THINK!

Spider sex is crazy dangerous.  Many a male has died in the act of love.  Males often need to announce to a female that they are not food, by “plucking” the strands of her spider web.  If they pluck it wrong, they become the next meal.  Even if they get it right, they are taking their lives in their own tarsus (“hands” for spiders) and this is quite literal for many spiders.  The copulatory organ of most male spiders isn’t a penis.  Infact, the copulatory organ isn't even connected to the sperm duct and testes (where sperm are made).  Instead, the male spider spins a tiny web and releases his sperm on to it.  He then sucks the sperm up into his pedipalps (the second pair of leg-like structures near the mouth).  During mating, the tarsus (“hand”) of the pedipalp becomes swollen with blood causing a bulb to stick out.  This is what is inserted into the female for sperm delivery.  Handy huh?