A Spotted Orbweaver

We walk our dogs early every morning before the Florida heat settles in. A few days ago, I was leading the way down the sidewalk when I walked straight into a large spider web stretched between the tree in the middle of our yard and our car. The spider had clearly chosen an effective place to catch insects—not so effective for sleepy humans.

The next morning, the web was back. We spotted the spider by shining a flashlight on it and decided we’d come back after our walk when the light was better for photographs. When we returned, both the spider and its beautiful web had completely disappeared.

The following morning, the web had reappeared. We tried photographing it in the dark with our cell phones and a flashlight, but the results were disappointing. While we were fumbling with the camera, though, insects kept flying into the web, and the spider rushed out to wrap each one almost as quickly as it became trapped. Watching the spider at work was far more interesting than the blurry photos we were taking.

This time, the spider stayed out a little longer, giving us the chance to photograph it before it began taking down its web. We learned it was a spotted orbweaver, a species that typically rebuilds its web each night. Every morning it eats the old web, recycling the proteins from the silk to help produce a fresh one for the next evening.

We even captured a video of the spider dismantling its web before retreating to its daytime hiding place. Regis managed to photograph it just after it slipped into its shelter for the day.

It made me realize how much activity takes place while most of us are asleep. Every night this tiny architect builds an intricate web, spends the darkness hunting, then quietly erases nearly all evidence of its work before the sun is fully up. If I hadn’t walked into that first web, I never would have known the remarkable routine happening in our own front yard.