Females emit a powerful pheromone on her web. When the male senses it, he will get on the web and do a mating dance. This dance is designed to send a series of vibrations through the web, identifying that he is not a meal, but a possible mate. He will get close and tap her body. If all goes well, he will mate with her. After mating, he will flee lest she eat him.
The males use a couple of strategies when mating. Some males will find juvenile females and mate with them. These females will not eat him, and give him a chance to mate a second time. This is tricky, because she must be in a very short window where she is developed enough yet not sexually active. Some males attempt to flee when mating mature females. Sometimes she will let this happen, and sometimes she will not. And other times he will sacrifice himself and throw himself on her fangs. He does this because it gives him the ability to deliver more sperm and guarantee that she not mate with another male. But this will cost him his life.
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