Figure 11.

A female Argiope garden spider on her web in North Texas, with a zig-zag structure called the stabilimentum, the function of which is unknown. The male is a tiny fraction of her size, and after inserting his mating appendage into her genital aperture he dies spontaneously, of his own accord, remaining in place. One hypothesis is that he thus serves as a mating plug, a kind of chastity belt, temporarily blocking any other male from taking his turn.