Spyder, spyder, burning bright

The recent weather conditions in the south of England have apparently been good for spiders and they are around in force. I am no arachnophobe and when I find one indoors I usher it outside quite gently, though if I should come across one the size of a football, with hairy legs, I would no doubt scream a bit and run for some wellingtons and a spade to hit it with.

I don’t like it when my face hits a web, but aren’t they wonderful things? There are several huge ones in our garden now; on one, I tried to count the concentric rings and radial lines with the thought of multiplying the numbers together to see how many intersections there were, but this was difficult and I gave up; the tiny constructor remained motionless, no doubt resting a while after framing such fearful symmetry. Nor did I succeed in taking a photograph; I never got up in time to find a web with dew on it and at other times the light wasn’t right.
But this is what the internet is for; this photo is from a marvellous website which tells you absolutely everything that anyone except arachnologists would want to know about spiders’ webs.