page_title: Matriphagy
section_title: Extended care in a Funnel-web spider: Coelotes terrestris
hierarchical_section_title: Matriphagy / Forms of parental care similar to matriphagy / Extended care in a Funnel-web spider: Coelotes terrestris
caption_attribution_description: Coelotes terrestris
context_page_description: Matriphagy is the consumption of the mother by her offspring. The behavior generally takes place within the first few weeks of life and has been documented in some species of insects, nematode worms, pseudoscorpions, and other arachnids as well as in caecilian amphibians.
  The specifics of how matriphagy occurs varies among different species, but the process is best described in the Desert spider, Stegodyphus lineatus, where the mother harbors nutritional resources for her young through food consumption. The mother is able to regurgitate small portions of food for her growing offspring, but between 1–2 weeks after hatching the progeny capitalize on this food source by eating her alive. Typically, offspring only feed on their biological mother as opposed to other females in the population. In other arachnid species, matriphagy occurs after the ingestion of nutritional eggs known as trophic eggs and involves different techniques for killing the mother, such as transfer of poison via biting and sucking to cause a quick death or continuous sucking of the hemolymph, resulting in a more gradual death.
context_section_description: The ‘maternal social’ spider, Coelotes terrestris (Funnel-web spider) uses extended maternal care as a reproductive model for its offspring. Upon laying the egg sac, a C. terrestris mother stands guard and incubates the sac for 3 to 4 weeks. She stays with her young from the time of their emergence until dispersal approximately 5 to 6 weeks later. During the offsprings’ development, mothers will provide the spiderlings prey based on their levels of gregariousness.
  Protecting the egg sacs from predation and parasites yields a high benefit to cost ratio for the mothers. Fitness of the mother is highly correlated to offspring developmental state—a mother in better condition yields larger young that are better at surviving predation. The presence of the mother also protects the offspring against parasitism. In addition, the mother can keep feeding while guarding her progeny without any weight loss, allowing her to collect sufficient food for both herself and her offspring.
  Overall, costs of protecting the egg sac are low. Upon separation from egg sacs, 90% of females have the energy sustenance to lay new sacs, although it does induce a time loss of several weeks that could potentially affect reproductive success.
  In experimental conditions, costs arose if maternal care was not provided, with egg sacs drying out and developing molds, thus illustrating that maternal care is essential for survival. Experimental food-deprived broods reared by the mother induced matriphagy, where 77% of offspring consumed their mother upon birth. This suggests that matriphagy can exist under nutrient-limited conditions, but the costs generally outweigh the benefits when mothers have sufficient access to resources.
caption: Image of a Funnel-web spider (Coelotes terrestris)
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