Genital Plugs: How These Spiders Trap Their Lovers

Key Takeaways

many female spiders are subjected to an insult on their genitals in terms of something called a mating plug the ejaculate of many males contain substances that are specifically designed to seal up a female's genital openings once their sperm has been deposited the function of these mating plugs aka chastity belts is to deter any future suitors from adding their sperm to the mix the entire notion of the mating plug seems ultra unfair to the females that receive them however that's not always the case although it may initially seem counterintuitive it's often the females that are plugging themselves up and there are actually a number of good reasons for them to want to do this first off to protect themselves from unwanted acts of sex giant wood spider females are solely responsible for a production of a hardened plate over their genital openings these plates are highly effective at preventing any kind of sexual advances basically males are virtually unable to insert their pedipalps penises into her other females put their copulatory plugs to a more sinister use females of an or weaving species secrete a sticky substance from their genital ducts that functions to entrap unsuspecting males by their penises this gives the females ample time and opportunity to cannibalize the would-be suitors there are also cases where both males and females work together to produce a mating plug a sort of happy medium if you will in another orb-weaver males deposit their sperm along with their half of the mating plug if a female is happy with her male partner she can secrete the other half of the plug in order to create a lasting seal think of it as a two-part epoxy if she's not happy with her male partner she will not add her magic glue to his plug resulting in both the plug liquid and his sperm trickling out of her body and out of her life so yes it's true that the notion of a chastity belt is not generally a fun one for females in the animal king but you can rest assured that some ladies out there continue to thrive by creating mating plugs that work to their own email advantage want to see more animal videos then check out this playlist from our friends at the dodo don't forget to subscribe and keep coming back to seeker for more videos [Music]