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Name : Asiatic hermit spider ( Nephilengys malabarensis )

Where it live : South , Southeast and East Asia ( including India , Sri Lanka , the Philippines , China , Japan and Indonesia )

web spider of Nephilengys malabarensis on its web, taken from the upper side in Macro photo

Male Asian hermit spiders are able to detach their penises so they can escape cannibalism while still transferring sperm.

What it eats : Moths , mallet , flies , crickets and other small insects

Why it ’s awesome : The Asian hermit wanderer is no average arachnoid . This spider has develop an adaptation that allows it to regurgitate while scat the threat of distaff cannibalism : It can detach its member .

This spider species displays uttermost sexual dimorphism , mean that males and females have significantly different appearances . female can grow up to around 0.59 inches ( 15 mm ) , while male are less than 0.20 inch ( 5 millimeters ) .

A male of the peacock spider species Maratus jactatus, lifts its leg as part of a mating dance.

Males face considerable risks during tangle due toaggressionfrom female , which may kill and eat their partners before or after conjugation . Sex can be so treacherous for the male person that they have developed the power to come away their penis so they can leave it pump sperm while they flee to safety .

In this process of " remote copulation , " a manlike spider ’s palp — its sperm - delivering organ , of which it has two — can bust off inside the female ’s procreative tract . The broken - off palp can remain inside the female and continue pump spermatozoon into her even after the male person has escaped .

While contemplate this " eunuch phenomenon " among orb - web spiders , biologistsdiscovered that the longer the severed palp is leave behind in the female genitals , the more sperm it transfers . And palp break induced by the female , instead of the male , led to faster sperm transfer .

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Thedetachable penisalso serve another important affair : It acts as a mating plug . After breaking off , the embolus — a needle - like social organisation that delivers the sperm — stays lodged inside the female person ’s reproductive hatchway to prevent other males from matte up with her . This reduces sperm cell competition and increase the likeliness that the male ’s gene will be passed on .

After losing its phallus , the male wanderer also becomes more strong-growing and guard the female from other males that might adjudicate to shift the " palp plug " and inseminate the female .

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According to a 2011 study in the journalAnimal Behaviour , withdraw one palp reduces the wanderer ’s body weight and increases its endurance , thereby boosting its ability to fight down . This finding supports what the researchers called a " gloves - off " conjugation scheme , where the spider have nothing to live for other than protecting their likely offspring .

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The male spider also have another put-on to preclude being eat by the females : Sometimes , they offer one of their legs to the female person as a beguilement during pairing . This act of ego - amputation , get it on asautotomy , reduces the risk of being attacked or rust during the coupling operation . It can also grease one’s palms the male time to escape .

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