They are called Argiope aurantia, but we didn't know this as kids. We called them writing spiders. These were not the only spiders to inhabit our acreage, but they were the largest that created a web and their yellow and black bodies made them stand out. They made very large webs and often right over our kitchen window, doubtless to take advantage of the light luring prey to their web.
Even though they were a large spider we were not afraid of them. First of all there was something soothing about the black and yellow design of their body that seemed to make them less intimidating. They also drew a zigzag shape in the very center of their web where they rested. This gave them an air of intelligence. Not only did the shape look like writing, but it also looked like an emphasis on the spider itself as it rested in the center of the web. 'Here I am' the zigzag seemed to say and so this forthrightness seemed to lend them an air of respectability. It did not hurt at all that this type of spider was the heroine of my favorite book of all times, "Charlotte's Web".
My second grade teacher, Mrs. Gartrell, read "Charlotte's Web" to us over the course of a couple of weeks. Every day we would hear about the pig Wilbur and Charlotte the spider. E.B. White's book was glorious in his descriptions: “On foggy mornings, Charlotte's web was truly a thing of beauty. This morning each thin strand was decorated with dozens of tiny beads of water. The web glistened in the light and made a pattern of loveliness and mystery, like a delicate veil.” I was transfixed by the story and couldn't wait to hear more each day.
It was during this time that my cousin and I decided these spiders needed our loving support. We especially wanted to help the one that had set up its station in front of the kitchen window at my house. This spider would build its nest each day so that it was exactly centered in the square window opening. We could see it from outside, but we could also see its actions from the kitchen. We were fascinated when it would catch some insect and roll it in layers of silk. If the insect action was good, the web would be tattered by the end of the day. By the morning of the next day the web would be in perfect form once again. We thought the spider was just repairing the damaged parts, but actually this spider destroys each nest and then rebuilds the entire thing new every night.
We noticed that some days she did not seem to have as many bugs and we decided to do something about this. All around the eves of our house were the nests of the mud dauber wasps. These wasps build their nests out of mud and then they hunt down a caterpillar or other insect which they immobilize with their sting. They take the stunned prey back to the nest and then lay an egg on the victim. Next they shove the victim into the nest and walled up the opening. During the course of the next couple of weeks the mud dauber egg will hatch and the larvae will devour the insect, eventually emerging from the nest to start the cycle over again.
We were unconcerned about this mud dauber cycle of life except that we knew from past experience that the nests contained the ingredients we needed to feed the many anole lizards we caught. I guess my cousin and I were some sort of exotic animal caretakers in training because when we caught something we immediately set about to feeding it if we could. The nests we wanted for the lizard feeding were those that had the mud dauber larvae already fairly developed. These white grub like larvae were just the right size for popping into the angry open mouths of the anole lizards as we held them. The lizards always snapped down on the grub and seemed to get a surprised look on their faces. My guess is that the last thing they thought would be happening as we held them was that they were going to get a free lunch.
Sometimes when we opened a mud dauber's nest we would not find the grub and would instead find an insect. This was no good for the anole lizards but we found them to be perfect for the spiders. Once we had procured the insect from the mud dauber's nest we would toss it into the spider web. The spider upon feeling the web vibrate would rush over to the insect and begin to wrap it up. It didn't know the insect had already been set up to be the meal of someone else.
The task might sound easy, but you could never tell what you were going to get when you opened up the mud dauber's nest. If our intention was to feed the spider and we found a grub instead we had to put everything on hold and catch an anole lizard to feed. It was worse when we wanted to feed the lizard and opened up the nest only to find an insect. We would immediately have to open another mud dauber nest because the lizard feeding operation checklist started with 1. Catch lizard, so therefore someone was holding an angry lizard while the other person was scrambling madly trying to find a grub.
When Mrs. Gartrell got to the end of "Charlotte's Web" and read the part about Charlotte's death I like many of my classmates cried. That day I went home and looked at the kitchen spider with a new understanding. She was there and doing well, but she wouldn't always be there. With a renewed purpose I set out after another mud dauber's nest. There was a spider that needed to be fed. If the mud daubers wanted my care and sympathy they were going to have to get E.B. White to write a story about them.
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