"T. clavipes" males have a limited amount of sperm available to them throughout their lifetimes and can therefore only inseminate a few females at most before they die. Multiple mating success is dependent on the first female they choose to mate with: when males mate with virgin, newly molted females, they completely deplete their sperm supply, whereas when they mate with older, non-virgin females, they are able to retain some of their sperm for future matings. Additionally, males may still engage in mating behavior even when they do not have any sperm to give to the female, although the mating behavior is markedly less vigorous. This inability of a male to inseminate further females may explain why male "T. clavipes" who have mated with virgin females will often remain on the female's web and guard her, rather than leave the web to search for future mates.