The few males that were not seen catapulting were promptly captured, killed and consumed by their cannibalistic partners. Special high-resolution video cameras showed that the spiders can accelerate at an average of 200 metres per second, pushing the female away while making a bid for freedom. The feat has baffled scientists, but Chinese researchers have finally worked out how it is done: with a springy joint in the front legs, allowing the male to vault off the female and leap to safety. However, the male orb-weaving spider Philoponella prominens has turned it into a survival trait, catapulting away from the female with such gusto that cameras struggle to pick up its post-coital exit.

The prospect of being eaten after sex is enough to make anyone jumpy.