Writing Spiders

We have had a couple of writing spiders on the back deck this summer.  They are very pretty, brightly colored yellow and black.  The one pictured above actually moved to this new location a couple of weeks back.  The original web became cluttered with grass and it must have been to much to manage.  This new location unfortunately stretches from the bench on the deck to the lattice work. I noticed last week that she has prepared her egg sack - you can see it hanging there in the top left corner of the lattice work next to the string of lights.

As you can see the move was beneficial.  I caught her finishing up a huge Cicada one morning.  I thought that was a big catch for spider, but she held her own. 

This is the spider that lives in the window on the back deck.   I noticed this morning that she has prepared her egg sack also and it hangs in the top corner of the window.  I am sure they must be getting close to the end of their lives. It has been fun watching them  grow over the summer.  They are HUGE compared to what they were when I first noticed them.  They don't really bother anything so we let them stay.   Hubby has suggested a couple of times that we should clean it all up and be rid of them.  I keep defending them and reminding him of Charlotte's Web.  It would be interesting if the eggs survived the winter and we could see what happens next spring.  Wouldn't that be something.