Arachnophobia anyone?

[Fomalhaut]

Originally Posted by pitbulllady

Uhm, actually, what you photographed there wasn't WAR, but LOVE...well, the spider version of love anyway! That smaller reddish-colored spider is a male Common Orb Weaver(Araneus diadematus), and that big fat brown one is the female! They were MATING, not fighting! Of course, she most likely did wind up eating him after he'd accomplished what he'd set out to do, which is why she returned, and he was a no-show!

pitbulllady

I have seen a similar scene in my grandma's garden, too... the female ended up chasing the male one away, but he kept on going back for like, days... didn't see how it ended, though... anyway I have read so much about how they try to mate, and it was so wonderful to see it live, I mean, how the male one started to pick at the female's web until she noticed! It was great to watch.