The commentary is about how he's surprised to wake up from feeling the squish on his back, not fear...
T34/38 said:
She doesn't look like a Black Widow so...
It's not just black widow spiders that do that, there are several species of spider that will eat their mates not for any real biological purpose, but just because they instinctually attack anything that enters their web, and only stop for mating. If the male doesn't vacate quickly, she'll attack and eat her mate as soon as the afterglow dies down.
IIRC, she's an Argiope spider, or kogane-gumo in Japan. The argiope is in a group of spiders called a "money spider" in traditional sayings/folklore because they are supposed to bring good luck with money if you leave them to weave their webs near your home. (In particular, the visible patterns they weave into their webs to make their webs obvious to birds so birds don't plow through and destroy their webs are considered lucky markings.)
According to the Wikipedia article on their mating habits, their courtship involves a male weaving a web next to the female for a while until she gets used to/accepts him as a mate, and I don't see anything about them eating their mates.
Aside spider mating ritual discussions, can we briefly remark about Yamame's sleeping face? I mean, holy, talk about beautiful. The more I stare at, the move I love it. She looks so peaceful. The slight arched back and breast press is the icing on this little treat. So lovely!
This is one of the most informative comment sections I've read on here! I'm so glad I stopped by.
I was just about to say this and I'm glad that this isn't about eating him. I have to say that this picture has to be one of the best (the morning after) pictures I've ever seen! It just screams of emotion and peace!
