Risks in pen & ink

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is suspense. Mating can be a pretty suspenseful thing if you're a male orb weaver spider. For one thing, she's going to be a lot bigger than you. For another, she's probably hungry. And if you need a third... well, depending on what species you are you might find that you have a few less body parts after you're done...

It's amazing, really, the things a male spider has to go through just to make sure he passes on his genes. Some species have elaborate mating dances where the rhythm of the male's vibrations on the web tell the female that he's not supposed to be food (at least, not right away). Some have to be able to sneak up from behind (and it's not easy to sneak on a spiderweb) in order to get the job finished. Some have detachable copulatory organs that continue to function even if the female eats the male a bit too quickly, believe it or not.

And you thought the human dating scene was tricky?

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I often say that these are quick doodles, but it's pretty obvious that this week's effort was the quickest of the quick. It's the only chance I have to get something in before Monday, though, and if I wait until after the weekend I rarely bother to get anything done. Better to keep the rhythm going, so to speak, since a skipped week too easily becomes a skipped month.