Cynthia Witthoft - Arachnophilia

"Cynthia Witthoft"
Song: "Arachnophilia"
Album: "Drunken Orgy In Hell - 2004" -

It is a common belief that male spiders, which usually are significantly smaller than the females, are likely to be killed after or during mating, or sometimes even before mating can occur.
Even in some species of widow spiders, which are named exactly for this belief, the male may live in the female's web for some time without being harmed. However, in over 60% of cases the female of one species, the Australian redback spider, kills and eats the male after it inserts its second palpus into the female genital opening Males that 'sacrifice' themselves gain the benefit of increasing their paternity relative to males who do not get cannibalized since they feed the female that will lay and tend the resulting fertilized eggs.
In many other species, males are sometimes killed by females. In at least some of these cases it's likely that the males are simply mistaken as prey. The risk of this happening is greater if the female is hungry. To counter this, some male spiders offer a "bribe" to the female, in form of a fly or other prey, prior to the mating.
Many spiders will attempt to protect themselves by biting, especially if they are unable to flee. Some tarantulas have a second kind of defense, a patch of urticating hairs, or urticating setae, on their abdomens, which is generally absent on modern spiders and Mesothelae. These ultra-fine hairs causes irritation and sometimes even allergic reactions in the attacker. Certain other species have specialized defense tactics. For example, the golden wheeling spider (Carparachne aureoflava) of the desert of Namibia escapes tarantula hawks (a species of wasp that lays its eggs in a paralyzed spider so the larvae have enough food when they hatch) by flipping onto its side and cartwheeling away.
Spiders, especially larger sorts, are eaten routinely or as a delicacy in various parts of the world, including Cambodia, where fried spider is considered a delicacy, Thailand, the Solomon Islands, and parts of South America, where living wrapped tarantulas are also sometimes taken on trips by certain indigenous tribes.