Oral sex part of spider's 'rich sexual repertoire'

Our pick of the strange but true stories from around the world.

Darwin's bark spiders' rich sex life

Researchers in Slovenia have discovered that male Darwin's bark spiders perform oral sex on females "before, in between and after copulations, even up to 100 times". The researchers say the species has a "rich sexual repertoire", including "sexual cannibalism", in which the female eats the male after sex, and "post-mating emasculation", in which the male chews off parts of his own sex organs.

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Weasel shuts down LHC

The Large Hadron Collider has been closed after a weasel broke into the facility and chewed through a power cable. It's not the first time the notoriously fragile equipment has been stopped by unusual means – in 2009, it ground to a halt when a bird dropped a piece of bread on it. Scientists say the LHC should be up and running again in two weeks.

A finger-lickin' anniversary trip

A man has honoured a family meal tradition by driving 870 miles to get KFC for his wife. Mike and Angela Hovak, of Yellowknife, in Canada's Northwest Territories, always eat the takeaway chicken on their wedding anniversary, but their nearest store recently closed down and the next closest is 435 miles away. Hovak brought home 15 buckets of chicken, at a cost of more than £325 in fuel and accommodation.