Boxing Scared

It's open season for spider pics. The orb webs of garden spiders with females at their centres are everywhere and they show up particularly well on misty autumn mornings bejewelled with dew. I don't think I've ever photographed a male garden spider before. They're much smaller than the females. This one is probably lurking, getting up courage to approach a female. It's a dodgy business. If she thinks he is not big enough or if he doesn't tweak her web with a strong and pleasing rhythm she'll eat him before he gets the chance to mate with her. Or she might choose to eat him after they have mated.

I've chosen a wider aperture than I would normally use to focus just on his eyes and his 'boxing gloves'. He transfers his sperm to these palpal bulbs and uses them to impregnate the female - if he gets the chance.