According to a recent study by Trine Bilde of the University of Aarhus in Denmark, the male spiders of the species Pisaura mirabilis who play dead are allowed to have sex longer than ones that do not. All of the male spiders held bribes of food in their mouths but the ones who remained flat and motionless (as the females latched onto the food) were the most successful. The prolonged copulation allows more eggs to be fertilized. Males play possum for sex while females play possum not to have sex: Mars versus Venus?
Cf. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080227181655.7ypqks33&show_article=1
Carpe Diem 
February 28, 2008 at 1:10 pm
This post is fitting following on the heels of the WFB tribute: the ghost of E. Zola has reappeared with a “street report”. You cannot stay on the mountaintop forever, but must descend into the valley and face that which is “real” and “earthy.”
However, in the words of Charlie Brown in response to Linus’ offering of an obscure historical note regarding Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet”:
“Now that I know that, what do I do?”
February 28, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Perhaps, the answer is more salient than you realize.