Portia Spider Reproduction

Male Component (modified pedipalp)

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The male spiders' pedipalp's are swollen and more intricate than the female pedipalps. When a male is ready to mate, he will spin a small web and deposit a drop of sperm onto it from the underside of his abdomen. He then uses the pedipalp to draw the sperm through the opening and store it in the sperm duct. It is stored in this organ until he finds a mate.

Female Component (Epigyna)

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The epigyna is a darkened, hard plate on the underside of the abdomen in female Portia spiders. This plate contains two openings near the top, and is sculpted with intricate ridges running along its surface. The inside of this organ contains numerous ducts and reservoirs that store the sperm until the female is ready to lay its eggs. As the eggs are being laid, they pass through the areas where the sperm is being stored and are fertilized.

Portia spiders exhibit some extremely strange and interesting reproductive behavior. When the male is ready to mate, he will search out a female and begin a courtship dance that involves the extension, flexing, and shaking of his front limbs. If the female accepts him as a mate, she will extend a dragline which she strums on to display her acceptance. Many times, they will swing together on this dragline and copulate in mid-air. Cannibalism is also a part of the reproductive process. Either before or after copulation, the female spider will kill the male to eat later. If before copulation, she will proceed to remove the sperm from the male and store it for later. If after copulation, she will simply eat the male. Research has shown that this happens a vast majority of the time, and they are attempting to discover why, although many say that the meal provides females with energy/nutrients during pregnancy.