These Mabel orchard orb weavers (Leucauge argyrobapta) are by far the most common spiders around my property. I find them all over the place, especially around my buildings. They are quite colorful, so they’re also fun to take pictures of. They start off in the spring as tiny little things, but they grow quickly, although they never get nearly as large as the black and yellow garden orb weavers or spotted orb weavers. Like all orb weavers, they spin complex roundish webs that they use to catch insects in. When an insect hits the web, it vibrates, and the spider comes running. Interestingly, the Mabel orchard orb weavers don’t tend to stay very long in any one web, whereas some of the larger ones find a good spot and spend the entire year in the web they weave. This spider was in a kind of decrepit web near the dog house one afternoon when I put the dogs out. By the following morning it had moved on to someplace else and I’m sure spun a new, nicer web.