Male redback spiders live fast and die young, ending their lives in a gory ritual of sexual cannibalism.
Female spiders eat their male partners while they mate, and males appear to encourage this behaviour, with their final act being a dramatic somersault onto the female’s jaws.
https://youtube.com/shorts/TPhIq_ZErpA?si=M_racdrRsoAVIqBe
The video shows him immediately after coitus, then heading towards the females’ jaws, flipping himself over, landing atop her jaws where she proceeds to have a tasty, post coitus meal.
When a female redback spider eats her mate, she is significantly less likely to mate again. By consuming the male during or immediately after copulation, the female satisfies her nutritional needs and tends to reject subsequent male suitors, ensuring the first male fertilizes a higher proportion of her eggs.