Spiderlings

Last month I was taking some cardboard outside to the recycling bin when I came upon a mass of baby garden spiders on one of our downspouts. I probably would’ve missed them had I not accidentally stuck my hand through part of their web.

I’m generally not freaked out by insects and spiders (except centipedes and millipedes—WAY too many legs going on there, it gives me the shudders), but I must admit being startled on more than one occasion by adult garden spiders. They are very large, and their webs can stretch as much as 2 feet in diameter. I’m usually weeding when I suddenly find myself nose to web with one of the yellow and black creatures. They are harmless, but their size definitely gives a person pause:

The babies, on the other hand, are adorable. They have same yellow and black markings as their parents, but in a teeny tiny package:

It was a very hot and humid evening, so most of the spiderlings were huddled in a sluggish clump. However, I noticed a few of them were climbing tiny strands of silk to the roof. I thought that was a weird place to go (why weren’t they going DOWN the downspout and heading for the flowerbeds?), but my sister reminded me of the story of Charlotte’s Web and then it made sense. They were climbing to the roof so they could scatter in the breeze.

The next morning every last one of the spiderlings had disappeared. I can vouch for the wind method of dispersal because that afternoon I was hooking up a soaker hose when I noticed one of the baby spiders building a web on an Asiatic lily.  It was more than 30 feet away from the downspout.

I better pay attention when I’m weeding the flowerbeds this summer because I may not be alone.