The male nephilengys malabarensis spider loses its spider penis when it has sex with a female, which is in itself a clever (if potentially painful) evolutionary trick, as it plugs up the lady spider's genitals and stops other men impregnating it.
But that is not the only clever purpose - the male spider then has to defend his female against other spiders hoping to have a try - and without the extra weight of the sexual organs, it can fight as a much stronger warrior.
The researcher team said: 'Prior work has demonstrated that eunuch spiders are superior fighters, we here pinpoint a mechanism that enables eunuch's greater endurance.
'Our present results imply that palp weight poses significant physical costs to males.'
Up to 75 per cent of the spiders do not even get to this stage, indeed 75 per cent of them get eaten by their partner.
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