We share the exterior of our home with a resident we call "The September Spider". Her distinctive circular web appears without fail every September somewhere near the house. For several years, we had to be careful exiting the front door in the morning because she seemed to prefer using the eaves there as an anchor, along with either a shrub, a porch column or even the truck as an opposing anchor. But this year, the web began appearing in the back yard and the early morning sun recently highlighted her handiwork.
A little research provided some enlightenment on the garden spider. The female spins the web, eating the center every night. After a male approaches her and mates, he will die. She produces egg sacs containing thousands of eggs and guards them until she becomes frail, dying with the onset of a hard frost. The spiderlings hatch in the spring and some will stay while others scatter in the breeze. So I guess our yearly resident is actually a daughter of the previous year's tenant, a continuation of generations.
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