Saint Andrew's Cross Spider (male & female)

Argiope aemula (Walckenaer, 1841) is a spider that I know quite well because, although it is not the most common Argiope in our area (that title must surely be held by Argiope luzona), it is indeed numerous and a five minute stroll along the edge of a rice field will always reveal two or three of this species. The reason for this spotting is to focus some attention on the male which is very much smaller than the female and is not spotted so often. I don't want to get into too much detail, because Wikipedia's article is much better than anything I could do, but there is one aspect of the male/female relationship in this species which is fascinating. Apparently, the miniscule male builds a web near that of the gigantic female and observes her from a safe distance. When he thinks she is ready for mating, he will approach her, knowing that he is going to his death. Wiki explains that many males are cannibalised during the act of copulation. The male aggressively resists the females murderous attack and, sometimes, the he will survive. Amazingly, if the male survives the first copulation, he returns for a second attempt and this time does not fight back and is killed and eaten. There is a an interesting hypothesis about the male's "deathwish" behaviour which is discussed in Wiki's article. All I want to mention about the female is that she is one of the biggest I have seen and her web decoration is a "Four-arm Discontinuous Cruciate Stabilimentum".