Halloween seems like a good time to introduce you to Hermione. She was an orb weaver spider (genus Araneus) that lived on the outside of my storm door a few years ago. I called her Hermione because the name Charlotte was already taken.
The first hint I had that there was a spider on the porch was a long strand of spider web stretched loosely from the top of the storm door across to the porch railing, a distance of about six feet. Nothing more until that night when I turned on the porch light to go outside and found myself face to face with a big spider. Her body was almost an inch long and with the legs added she was almost two inches. I jumped back a little, but then realized that she was on the outside of the glass, and she was very busy finishing up a big, beautiful, orb-shaped web.
It was really interesting to watch her, but she was nearly done and very soon moved to the center of the spiral and settled down to wait. The purpose of this web is to catch insects on the sticky silk. Nothing happened for quite a while so, not having the patience of a spider, I turned out the porch light and left her to wait for her prey in the dark.
The next day I went to look for the web, but most of it was gone and I didn't see the spider anywhere. When night came, however, she was back, busily spinning. This pattern was repeated for about a week before I took time to read about orb weavers and learn what she was doing. Very early every morning she tore up her web and ate most of the silk, which is actually a protein substance. Then she went up to the top of the door frame and spun a sort of cocoon around herself, fastened it in the corner next to the glass, and rested in the shade. If I hadn't gone searching for it, I would never have noticed it. She left the long strands I had first noticed to use as guy wires. After I realized that, I was careful to not break them as I went in and out.
My two granddaughters were ages four and five that year and they were often at my house. I decided I should show them the spider so they wouldn't discover it suddenly themselves. At first they were doubtful - after all, she was a big, ugly spider - but I pointed out how beautiful her web was and how hard she worked every night to spin it. Also, she was on the other side of the glass and never left her web. Soon, they moved up close with noses almost touching the glass to watch Hermione make her web.
