Doris, part III

Doris returns!!! For the last two night, Doris came back and weaved her web. On the first night, she was munching on something (or someone... I didn't want to get too close to find out). On the second night, she was idling in the center of her masterpiece, probably waiting for her dinner to arrive. Tonight, I haven't seen her yet. But, I have my camera ready, batteries fully charged, and will snap some glamour shots of Doris if she makes an appearance tonight. Now I know what it's like to be a Paparazzi. Doris is so interesting and her web is so beautiful!

Doris, part II

Doris set up her web twice more before saying good-bye. She was most likely a garden orb weaver. Spiders like Doris weave fancy webs for the night to catch prey, then pretty much eat back the web before dawn, including what they caught. One night, I saw what looked like a male garden orb weaver idling at the edge of Doris's web. She might have mated with him, then ate him, too! Such is the circle of life! That following night, I saw Doris twice more, but she didn't weave anymore webs and was just hanging on to the siding of the house. She was probably resting from her gluttonous buffets. I haven't seen Doris since... The weather has been on the cold side, rare for August. With some heavy storms that followed, Doris was smart to pack up and leave.

Doris

Meet Doris! She's a spider camping out over our back patio. I met her last night when she weaved a really impressive web and was looking forward to the morning so I can take a picture of her and her web sprinkled with the morning dew. To my dismay, she was gone with her web, nothing was left behind. Tonight, however, she returns with an even more intricate web. She's about the size of a large marble; her belly is mostly orange colored with some black spots. Because of the flash light, I couldn't capture her true colors, unfortunately. I think she'll pack up again in the morning. I hope she returns tomorrow night.