Mating Garden Spiders, male on the right. The male is approaching cautiously, strumming the female's web with its front legs in a rhythm that he hopes the female will interpret as being romantic. If the male makes a false move, he risks sudden death -- a frequently used fictional theme ever since Penelope waited for Odysseus.

Mating Garden Spiders, male on the right. The male is approaching cautiously, strumming the female's web with its front legs in a rhythm that he hopes the female will interpret as being romantic. If the male makes a false move, he risks sudden death -- a frequently used fictional theme ever since Penelope waited for Odysseus.