Single Male Spider Seeks Plump Mate: To Die For

Think your love life is a nightmare? Some male spiders are strongly attracted to big, plump females -- the very mates most likely to succeed in eating them, scientists reported in the Journal of Arachnology.

A team led by Peter Smallwood of the University of Richmond in Virginia found that male long-jawed spiders consistently preferred fat females, maybe because they are full of eggs. The spiders don’t see very well, but might identify plump mates through web vibrations or by scent, Smallwood said.