Condition-dependent female aggression and its effects on mating success and sexual cannibalism in jumping spiders

Pre-copulatory sexual cannibalism is an extreme form of aggression towards
potential mates. In the present study, we examined condition-dependent
female aggression and its effects on mating success and frequency of
pre-copulatory sexual cannibalism in the jumping spider Phidippus audax
(Hentz 1845). We examined two of the leading hypotheses of why sexual
cannibalism may occur, 1) female mate choice and 2) adaptive female
foraging. We separated 137 adult virgin female P. audax into three feeding
treatments: 1) well-fed spiders, 2) 14-day food deprived, and 3) 28-day
food deprived. We recorded weight loss (14-day and 28-day treatments) and
survival rates. We conducted mating trials to measure the proportion of
non-aggressive and aggressive male and female behaviors, male mating
success, and pre-copulatory sexual cannibalism. Females deprived of food
had higher weight loss and lower survival rates than well-fed females. In
addition, food deprived female spiders exhibited higher proportions of
aggressive behaviors and pre-copulatory sexual cannibalism, and lower
mating success compared to well-fed spiders. We found that as male size
increased females were less likely to cannibalize males, but we found no
effect of male body condition on whether a male mated with or was
cannibalized by a female. Our results are consistent with the adaptive
foraging hypothesis and corroborates prior research on pre-copulatory
sexual cannibalism.