Spiders are exceptional predators.
If you're an insect and you come across a spider,
you're a goner, right?
Could it be that when it comes to mating,
spiders are just as dangerous
to each other as they are to their prey?
Tarantulas.
Look at how beautiful and hairy they are.
Oh, my God.
What...?
Oh gosh. Ooh, God.
Yeah, that is the end.
(SAD MUSIC)
He died doing what he loved.
Spider sex involves the males charging their pedipalps
which are two really cute little arm-y things
that are at the front of their sort of mouth area.
And basically they jerk off into these little hands.
Then they approach the female.
And in this case, he's like holding her big fangs
up away from his body so that he doesn't die
and thrusting the pedipalps into her.
One of the advantages of pedipalps
when you're trying to mate with a massive alien
with huge fangs,
is that it provides you a little bit of distance.
You can do all of the sex at arm's length, and that's good
because when the fangs come down,
that is likely going to be a fatal strike.
Redback males are way smaller than females.
They're, in fact, the size of a perfect prey item for a female.
So, to give her warning that he's on his way as a suitor
rather than an Uber Eats deliverer,
he is plucking her strings.
Got to have this nice, quiet environment.
And it's like he lights a couple of candles
and then he plays like a really lovely flamenco tune
on her web and basically these vibrations
are telling her that he's a male and that he's there for sex.
God, that really shows you the size difference, doesn't it?
He looks literally like a tick on her side rather than a male.
Spiders and redback spiders
are a fantastic example of sexual dimorphism.
It's where, in this case, the male and the female
almost look like different species.
Redbacks are one of the only species that do this.
It's called complicit cannibalism.
He does like a forward somersault
where he flips his butt up into the air
and then over directly onto her mouthparts.
What he's actually trying to do is say,
''Eat my butt. Literally eat me.''
The mother of your children is going to need food
to make really lovely, strong eggs
so you sacrifice yourself.
Oh!
So, this is a nursery web spider.
And I think the male
is doing a little bit of bondage.
Some spiders to avoid getting eaten
will actually try and tie little web knots
around the ends of the legs of the female.
They'll incapacitate her while they put their pedipalps inside.
It's kinky stuff.
What is it doing?
Is this oral sex?
You might think that this sort of thing wouldn't be allowed
on the ABC but you would be wrong.
Phew!
All right, spider oral sex.
Who's in?
This guy?
So, this is a Madagascan bark spider.
They've got quite the sexual repertoire.
He does this during copulation, before it, after it,
up to 100 times.
Weeee! (LAUGHS)
When it's just not doing it for you.
You should be able to make, like, a high-speed getaway,
like an ejector seat and just blast off into space.
Yeah. So, that is a method that male spiders use
to protect themselves from being eaten.
They basically tense up some of their legs against the female.
And then as soon as their pedipalps are in
and they've been successful,
they're just like, (BOING) out of there and just spring off it
like the speed of light,
which is really fast when you're that big.
These ones are peacock spiders,
the best disco dancers in Australia.
The males are often brightly coloured,
especially on this bit at their back.
They put it up and they wiggle it about.
It's all iridescent and then they wave their arms
like they're at, like, a concert in the 2000s.
What they're trying to do is show the female
how much of a good mate they would be.
And I mean, it must work. She must like it,
because if he's successful and he gets to mate,
most often, peacock male spiders,
they actually get to survive.
From cannibalism to dancing,
from catapulting to bondage.
I mean, spider sex is a real mixed bag
and it's risky business.
You could end up dying,
but at least you go out doing what you love.