Attracting a mate in the animal world is of prime importance, but how best to go about it? Do you flash your feathers in a personalized dance, fight your rivals for the chance to breed, or, in the recently discovered web of widow spiders, follow the smell of cheesy feet? The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

The western black widow ( Latrodectus hesperus) is a well-studied spider with a breeding season that runs through the summer months. Typically, females survive the season and go on to mate the following year. Most males, however, die after a single season. For a male to find a female, he must follow the airborne pheromones that are given off by her web.

Arriving at the web and making direct contact with the pheromone

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