It’s a good thing I’m not afraid of spiders because I’m surrounded. Not only are they everywhere outside, but one greeted me in the bathroom this morning, and last night I woke up to the feeling of something running across my arm. I’d rather not think about it because it could have been a millipede. Spiders don’t bother me, but millipedes totally freak me out.
The Black and Yellow Garden Spiders appear in my yard every 5 years or so. The female builds a huge web—sometimes 2 feet across—between flower stalks or other plant material, and the male builds a smaller web off to the side. All men watching football in the garage can relate. Each night they eat their giant webs (and smaller garage-sized webs) and build new ones. That’s the only part that’s a little unnerving. You never know where that new web will be the next morning. Fortunately the female likes to sit in the middle of it which makes it much easier to find.
Lately, I’ve been overrun with orb-weaving spiders. They also string their webs across plant stalks and leaves, but the webs (and spiders) are much smaller. They like to hide off to the side and wait for something to get caught before pouncing. Unfortunately, many times this summer it’s been me that’s been caught in their web.
When I came across this orb-weaving spider yesterday it was eating a Japanese Beetle. Now THAT’S something to get excited about. I have yet to run into ANY animal, bird or insect that will touch Japanese Beetles. I’ll gladly get tangled up in a spiderweb every now and then if it means something will finally help me lower the beetle population.