A British spider has developed a novel way of wooing dangerous females and avoiding getting eaten in the process. The male nursery web spider (Pisaura mirabilis) faces an aggressive - and bigger - female when he feels the need to mate. Some male spiders pay the ultimate price for a few moments of pleasure when the female devours them after mating. Even worse, some males are eaten before they have the chance to mate. To overcome this problem the nursery spider has devised a strategy of offering his thumbnail-sized mate a love-token, such as a dead insect. But after presenting...