My summer has been and education in spiders. It seems that I've always had a fascination with spiders. This summer, I was fascinated by a Spiny Orb Weaver that set up housekeeping in the corner just outside my den window. Spiny Orb Weavers have been one of my favorite spiders mainly because they weave a neat orb web and are colorful. I first noticed the little guy in May, 2007 and watched almost daily with fascination. Late in June, I was saddened to find the web gone and no spider. A few days later I was working on my bike with the garage door open and saw two very small orb webs in the yew on the west side of the garage. A close inspection revealed two of the tiniest Spiny Orb Weavers. As they molted and built larger webs, one disappeared and the other ("junior') gradually moved over to the corner of the house formerly occupied by the parent. I watched this one for about two months and by the end of August, it too suddenly disappeared. I immediately scoured the bushes looking for offspring and found "Punkin'" which has so far (October), only grown to half the size of the other two.
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