Black Widow Sex | National Geographic

if you think the mating rituals at your
local singles bars strange Tom Whalley
get a load of black widow spiders first
of all the weight advantage
the female weighs 30 times what the male
does to put it in human terms
he weighs 200 pounds she weighs 6,000
okay now here’s the approach he inches
toward her tapping his legs to woo her
he’d better make nice because if she
bites him he’s sleeping The Big Sleep
he should be begging happy if we get
together will you promise not to kill me
please the venom of a black widow can
kill numerous species including humans
she lets him approach he gets ready to
mate apparently what he’s doing here is
an erotic ritual okay now here’s the big
moment that’s the male inserting sperm
into the female using its feeler called
a palp
as you can see part of the ritual is
leaving part of himself inside the
female that’s how much he wants it he’s
willing to donate a body part the female
can now lay her eggs
that silky sack contains 200 black widow
spider eggs
and this is one of five silky sacks
shall produce from this particular
mating in two weeks 1,000 newborn black
widow spiders will be unleashed on this
little Virginia garden they’re out there
almost anywhere in the US so whatever
you do look out for that telltale red
hourglass