A tentative love affair

I usually try to avoid really, really common species that have already been posted a fair amount, but this I found rather interesting. The small male on the left is courting the much larger female, with I assume, a great deal of trepidation, lest he become not only a mate, but also lunch or worse yet, simply lunch. I watched the pair carefully approach one another, with the male backing off several times. Each time he would slowly come back, plucking the web to let her sense his approach (except for jumping spiders, most arachnids have poor eyesight). They would come closer to one another, rubbing legs until he was again unnerved and backed off. I didn't stay to see if he worked up the courage to consummate his love affair, but I'll assume he eventually did and then beat a rather hasty retreat.

For some reason or other we've had an incredible surge in the number of these spiders in this area recently. Their webs are absolutely everywhere. I probably have dozens in just my own yard and I see their webs stretched nearly everywhere there is a span available.