In what just might be the most disturbing post-coital ritual on the planet, male ornamental tree trunk spiders (a.k.a. coin spiders) have a habit of biting off their own genitals.
While many types of spiders suffer damage to or even lose their palps — essentially, the spider’s penis — during sex, these spiders really, really, really want to make sure the things are gone. So whatever hasn’t been damaged during the act usually gets chewed off afterward.
Now, researchers may be closer to understanding why these arachnids are so eager to lose their genitals.
Full story on Huffington Post here.
