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For male spiders, mating can be a treacherous endeavour in which an innocent attempt at courtship can end with — and this is the scientific term — sexual cannibalism.

Cannibalism is a common danger facing male spiders attempting to approach females, since most spiders are predatory and extremely aggressive. One wrong move can be fatal.

Two of Gries’ graduate students, Samantha Vibert and Catherine Scott, set out to determine how male black widows approach females on the web without being mistaken for prey.

The researchers used sophisticated equipment to measure the vibrations produced by males approaching females on a web and then compared those to the vibrations from house flies and crickets.

The males could be seen shaking their abdomens, producing long, low-amplitude vibrations on the web that the researchers compare to “whispers.”

While the short, percussive vibrations of the flies and crickets triggered a predatory response from the female black widows, the male spiders’ distinct whispers did not.

Gries said the male spider has a delicate task: get the female’s attention without provoking an attack.

“Envision you are on a date, and your date, the female, is much bigger than yourself,” said Gries.

So when you start this date on the wrong foot, make a wrong move, give the wrong signal, what could happen to you is that not only will the date be over, but you will become the dinner. So the male has to really try everything to avoid that

“So when you start this date on the wrong foot, make a wrong move, give the wrong signal, what could happen to you is that not only will the date be over, but you will become the dinner. So the male has to really try everything to avoid that.”