How do female false widow spiders attract mates? Premium

Female false widow spiders disseminate pheromone from their webs to attract males.

When it comes to spider love, female widow spiders hold the key to attracting mates, potentially adjusting their web’s attractiveness to lure males, according to new research (Nature Communications Biology). A study led by Simon Fraser University’s Andreas Fischer reveals new details about how female false widow spiders (Steatoda grossa) communicate using pheromones — and suggests they can build more attractive webs — to lure mate-seeking males by adjusting the pH level of their pheromone-bearing silk, a release says.

Female false widow spiders disseminate pheromone from their webs to attract males and deposit contact pheromone components on their webs that induce courtship by the males once they arrive.

This study also identified the organ that produces these pheromone components — the posterior aggregate silk gland — as well as the chemical structure of the pheromone components involved in attraction and courtship.

False widow spiders are globally invasive and capable of reproducing year-round but little is known about the reproductive behaviour of this common species of spider, also sometimes called the cupboard spider, which predominantly lives in buildings.