Probably the most common spider that I see on my property and in the surrounding woods is the Mabel orchard orb weaver (Leucauge argyrobapta). I love their amazingly colorful abdomens, and being orb weavers, they spin fantastic, complex roundish webs that are usually very successful at capturing prey. This particular lady was out in my yard, and when I found her she was working on eating a carpenter ant that she had captured. As you can see, she’s in the center of her web, which is sort of home base. That’s where she will spend most of her time as she rests and waits for insects to get trapped in the web. When she feels the web move, she will run out and bite the trapped insect. Her bite paralyses it and injects digestive juices that begin breaking the body down into liquid. If she’s hungry, she’ll eat it right away. If not, she will wrap it in silk and keep it for later. It’s a highly successful lifestyle that allows her to spend most of her energy on growing and on producing silk for spinning webs with.