Single fatherhood isn't easy, but for one type of arachnid, it comes with a few benefits. Among them is that females find single fathers more attractive than gallivanting bachelors.
Gustavo S. Requena
Male harvestmen guard the eggs laid by their mates, and the commitment makes them more attractive to other females.
Among harvestmen, also known as daddy longlegs, males guard the eggs laid by their mates. Males can continue to copulate while guarding eggs, and a new study reports that these males are more attractive to females.
"A male with eggs displays a signal that he is willing and able to care for more eggs," said Gustavo S. Requena, who recently completed his doctoral studies at the University of São Paulo in Brazil. "The other males walking around the vegetation, maybe, maybe not."
The research, which was part of Dr. Requena's dissertation, appears in the journal PLoS One.
Dr. Requena said that after laying eggs, female harvestmen transfer responsibility for the eggs to males. In the summer, eggs take about one month to fully develop. In the winter, they might take two months. All in all, if a male keeps copulating and guarding more eggs, he may have to stay in one place for up to four months. This is incredibly draining, since the fathers cannot leave the area to search for food.
On the other hand, since the males are so sedentary, they are less likely to be eaten by predators. Females also produce a protective mucus along with their eggs that seems to repel predators.
"So staying with the offspring has more advantages than we previously thought," Dr. Requena said. "They are more attractive to females.
"On the other side, they have to pay up with a lot of energy."
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