My Spiders Are Missing!

   My spiders have gone missing!  At least, most of them have.  There are still a few that are alive and well but most have done their thing for this season.   I am referring to the Golden Silk Orb Weavers that seemed to be out in full force this year.  It has been years since there have been more than one or two but this spring saw hundreds of the hand-sized critters stringing webs everywhere.  Now, the webs sit empty.  The spiders have already created their golden orbs filled with eggs.  The females have done their duty and have died leaving me with a profound sense of emptiness.  I love these spiders and the service they do for us in ridding the place of so many mosquitoes.

 Down behind the greenhouse, there is still one large female Orb Weaver that appears to be full of life, yet.  Why she is so late while all of the others have completed their tasks?  In fact, she is not late.  The others were early.  Usually, it is late September before the egg sacs are filled and the mother spider dies.  The one near the greenhouse seems to be right on time. 

  Does the early demise of the Orb Weavers foretell of an early autumn?  Is there some way that the spiders can sense if inclement weather will interrupt their process?  Who knows?  I will miss my several hundred friends.