The time is now…to overcome arachnophobia! Not because Halloween is coming with its myriad of spider decorations, but because I had a special guest this month. Rachney, as I dubbed this orb spider, presented me with a museum-style display of her life when she wove her web outside a window by my desk. I could safely watch her during her sojourn here as I did my paperwork. At first the large yellow-marked black spider seemed intimidating, but after researching her on the I-net I discovered she’s a common garden spider who likes sunny spots on small shrubbery. Her globe-like body is much larger than her male counterpart's build, and she has a small red spot on her lower belly whence comes the threads used to spin her web. Rachney’s legs have three rather than the typical two claws, which helps her spin the intricate webs that catch her food. Her venom is deadly to the prey unfortunate enough to become enmeshed among the fine threads of her web. It's not poisonous to humans. She usually was in the center of her web, belly-side to the outside world, while on exhibit. Her artistic body faced inside. She rarely moved in the daytime. If I dared turn a light on her at night, I’d catch her roaming about her web, the center of which had a streak of thick-woven threads called a stabilimentum. I didn’t realize how attached I’d become to Rachney until I returned home one afternoon and found her gone. I considered she’d been prey for a bigger creature, but her web was not disturbed. The spider with a lifespan just over a year must have wandered away, frustrated with the lack of sunshine. I'd not want to confront her outside the glass window, even though her bite is merely painful. But I truly enjoyed her stay and managed not to shudder too much while viewing spiders on the I-net during my investigation. For those of you who know me, I took the expected photos of Rachney, for your viewing pleasure. If only I knew how to get them on this blog! ---Oct. 29, 2006 | 
