In celebration of arachnids…
Our friendly neighboorhood garden spider Argiope used to watch over my office building from the front window last year. She was very impressive at about the size of my hand including her legs and with her bright yellow and orange stripes. She was not one of the better lattice-builders I have seen but she did spend the summer watching over us until her inevitable disappearance come winter. Sadly, her ping pong ball sized egg sac didn’t make it, so we have had no new garden spiders this year.
I used to be terrified of these spiders as a child after nearly walking into one that had cast its web across the sidewalk; they seemed to come out of nowhere. But they are very beneficial and should be appreciated for their impressive and remarkable presence.
