Female widow spiders are known for eating their mates after sex – hence the name and notoriety. But as this short video from the science documentary series Deep Look shows, the widow spider’s reputation is rife with misunderstandings, misconceptions and flat-out falsities. For starters, in the vast majority of the 31 widow spider species, males usually escape their sexual encounters unscathed. Captured in ultra-HD, this short interrogates whether female widow spiders really deserve their infamy. You can read more about the video at KQED Science.
Female black widows have a murderous reputation, but do the males have it coming?
Video by KQED Science and PBS Digital Studios
Producer and Writer: Elliott Kennerson
Narrator and Writer: Lauren Sommer
Cinematographers: Sean McCann, Josh Cassidy
13 March 2018
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