Writer Spiders are frightening. They are big, shiny bugs that resemble colorful robots. The first time Aunt Mel saw a Writer Spider, she screamed. But she soon learned they are helpful spiders in the garden. And fear changed to respect.
Big spiders build big webs, sometimes a foot or two across. The webs are strategically placed to catch as many bugs as possible. They are pulled taught by single threads tethered to nearby flowers and grass. In the center of the web, the spider spins a dense, thicker thread. Sometimes it looks like a cloud or cotton ball. Most of the time it is a zigzag that looks like printed letters. Hence the name, Writer Spider.

The spider hangs upside down behind the dense center, hiding, and waiting to pounce on intruders. Every night the spider eats the center of her web and builds a new one. So every morning there are new “letters” to read.
If the Writer Spider writes your name in her web, you’ll have bad luck. Aunt Mel checks the web daily – so far, so good.

This year’s Writer Spider was especially large. She built her nest above the outside water spicket. Aunt Mel had to be careful not to stick her hand in the web. As fall approached, the spider spun a soft web filled with yellow goo. She filled the sack with her eggs. It hangs beneath the windowsill. After she lays her eggs, she stops eating and will die before the first frost. But next spring, on a warm day, the eggs will hatch and hundreds of little spider will throw out lines of webbing in the air. The wind will pick them up and blow them across the yard. Where they land, they will stay and build their own web.