THE EVOLUTION

OF SEXUAL
CANNIBALISM
Holly Steil
Mentor: Dr. David Shealer
Sexual Conflict
The goal in the game of life is to get one’s genes passed
down to the next generation to increase their fitness

Sexual conflict is an evolutionary theory within the

framework of sexual selection based on the observation that
a trait that is beneficial for the reproductive success of one
sex can reduce the fitness of the other sex

Occurs when males and females maximize their reproductive

success in different ways, leading to characteristics that may
harm the members of one sex while benefiting the other
•Mating plugs
•Sexual Cannibalism
 What is Sexual Cannibalism?
■ Cannibalism is defined as the act of eating the
flesh of one’s own species
■ Sexual cannibalism is the consumption of a male
by a female before, during, or after mating
■ Who does it?
Why did sexual cannibalism
evolve?
Hypotheses of Evolution

Female
Foraging

Mate Sexual Male

Rejection Cannibalism Sacrifice

Aggressive
Spillover
Female Foraging Hypothesis

Fecundity benefits

Avoiding starvation

Males as a high quality food

source
Increasing Fecundity

■ Barry et al. (2008) studied the effect of sexual cannibalism in

praying mantids on female body condition and egg case mass
■ Mating Trials
■ Measuring Body Condition
■ Measuring Egg Cases
Male Sacrifice Hypothesis

Fitness benefits for males can exceed

benefits of future mating

Some males decrease their resistance to

female attacks

Availability of females

Mortality during mate searches

Cannibalism by Self-Sacrifice

■ Schwartz et al. (2016) studied the benefits of obligate death

in male dark fishing spiders
■ Mating trials
■ Treatment Groups
– Cannibalism
– Non-cannibalism
– Cricket substitute
Conclusions

Sexual Cannibalism

Fecundity Benefit for

Females

Larger Clutches & Larger

Young
Conclusions
Male Sacrifice

Increased Copulation Duration

Higher Paternity Levels

Higher Quality Offspring

Author Hypothesis Tested Species Findings

Barry et al. (2008) Female Foraging False Garden Mantid • Females that consumed
males substantially improved
their condition
• Significant positive effect on
the mass of the egg case
Wilder & Rypsta (2011) Female Foraging Wolf Spider • Virgin females more likely to
engage in post-copulatory
cannibalism, mated females
more likely to engage in pre-
copulatory cannibalism
• Females balance benefits of
mating with a male vs
consuming him as a meal
Schwartz et al. (2016) Male Sacrifice Dark Fishing Spider • Females allowed to eat mate
showed higher fecundity
benefits than those that
consumed a male-sized
cricket
• Cannibalistic females
produced larger, more
successful young
Andrade (1996) Male Sacrifice Australian Redback Spider • Male-male competition for
mates and in the field, there
may be up to six males on
the web of one female
• Duration of copulation is
increased due to male
sacrifice which ensures
paternity
Further Research

■ Why only a relatively small number of species participate in sexual

cannibalism
■ How food quality affects sexual cannibalism
■ The effects of sex ratio and how females assess male abundance
■ How male behavior can influence the timing of sexual cannibalism
■ What factors affect the success rate of female cannibalistic attacks
and female motivation to attack
 References
Andrade, M. C. (1996). Sexual selection for male sacrifice in the Australian redback
spider. Science,271(5245), 70-72. doi:10.1126/science.271.5245.70
Barry, K. L., Holwell, G. I., & Herberstein, M. E. (2008). Female praying mantids use sexual cannibalism as a
foraging strategy to increase fecundity. Behavioral Ecology,19(4), 710-715.
doi:10.1093/beheco/arm156

Buskirk, R. E., Frohlich, C., & Ross, K. G. (1984). The natural selection of sexual cannibalism. The American
Naturalist,123(5), 612-625. doi:10.1086/284227
Hanlon, R. T., & Forsythe, J. W. (2008). Sexual cannibalism by Octopus cyanea on a Pacific coral reef. Marine
and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology,41(1), 19-28. doi:10.1080/10236240701661123
Peretti, A. V., Acosta, L. E., & Benton, T. G. (1999). Sexual cannibalism in scorpions: fact or fiction? Biological J
ournal of the Linnean Society,68(4), 485-496. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.1999.tb01184.x
Schwartz, S. K., Wagner, W. E., & Hebets, E. A. (2016). Males can benefit from sexual cannibalism facilitated
by self-sacrifice. Current Biology,26(20), 2794-2799. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.08.010
Wilder, S. M., Rypstra, A. L., & Elgar, M. A. (2009). The importance of ecological and phylogenetic conditions
for the occurrence and frequency of sexual cannibalism. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and
Systematics,40(1), 21-39. doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.110308.120238
Wilder, S. M., & Rypstra, A. L. (2011). Trade-off between pre- and postcopulatory sexual cannibalism in a wolf
spider (Araneae, Lycosidae). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology,66(2), 217-222.
doi:10.1007/s00265-011-1269-0
Questions?