the female who has a red mark on her belly

[Haseli221]

Hi. In the following sentence, I would like to know why the authors have used "who" as a relative pronoun for an insect?
"Perhaps that fear is fed by the knowledge of how the spiders got their name: the female who has a red mark on her belly, sometimes eats the male."
This sentence is taken from the book "Building vocabulary skills".
Thank you.

 

[Barque]

I would like to know why the authors have used "who" as a relative pronoun for an insect?

What would you suggest?

In that specific sentence construction, I think "who" fits. There's no rule saying "who" can't be used for animals or insects. It sometimes is.

This sentence is taken from the book "Building vocabulary skills".

That's a very general name. It'd be good to mention the author or the publisher.

 

[White Hat]

Hi. In the following sentence, I would like to know why the authors have used "who" as a relative pronoun for an insect?
"Perhaps that fear is fed by the knowledge of how the spiders got their name: the female who has a red mark on her belly, sometimes eats the male."
This sentence is taken from the book "Building vocabulary skills".
Thank you.

Try this. ("Note that who may be used to discuss animal behavior in scientific and academic writing.")

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi. Unnecessary. Just go straight in with your question.

In the following sentence, I would like to know why the authors have used "who" as a relative pronoun for an insect?

"Perhaps that fear is fed by the knowledge of how the spiders got their name: the female who has a red mark on her belly, sometimes eats the male."

This sentence is taken from the book "Building Vocabulary Skills".

Thank you. Unnecessary. Thank us after we help you, by adding the "Thanks" icon to any response you find helpful.

Note my corrections and comments above. You need to provide the names of the authors of that book. It's a legal requirement to cite your source in full. (You clearly know who wrote it because you used "authors" in your opening sentence, making it clear there's more than one.)

 

[jutfrank]

The pronoun who goes with her. If you commit to her, you have to commit to who.

The female, which has a red mark on her belly

Both who and her are 'personal' in a sense, giving the impression that whatever they're referring to has a kind of personhood. That doesn't mean that they are persons in a strict philosophical or legal sense, just that we're considering them as if they were. We personify a range of things that are significant to us, not just each other.