Some male spiders tie up females to avoid being eaten

Many male spiders engage in courtship rituals during mating, but some attack females instead and tie them up to avoid being eaten. In April 2019, Lenka Sentenská, now at the University of Toronto Scarborough in Canada, was studying the behavior of a spider species (Thanatus fabricii) that is native to Israel. She realized that males behaved oddly during mating, but the action was so quick that it was difficult to observe.

New Scientist, UK: Sentenská and her colleagues collected some of the spiders and brought them to the lab to film their behavior in slow motion.

"The male just rushed towards the female," says Sentenská. The male spider would bite the female, which seemed to startle her into pulling in her legs and playing dead. At this point, the male would begin to lay down some strands of silk on the female's body, binding her legs.
The male spider would then mate with the female for the next 19 minutes, on average, before running away.

The behaviour is savage, but it may be the best way for males to come out of the mating process alive. The team observed that some males were eaten by the slightly larger females before they could begin biting/

It appears brutal, that the female has no choice, but that's probably not how it is? Even when tied up, the female spiders may be in control. Sentenská says it doesn't take a female spider long to break free. She speculates that the silk may contain a chemical message about the male spider's suitability. If he is to her liking, a female spider may decide to let the male continue mating.

"It appears brutal, that the female has no choice, but that's probably not how it is," she says.

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