Louie

It has rained off and on all day, still warm, though, but definitely fall-like. I wondered how this web would look at night with the flash - came out pretty neat. I watched this spider methodically eat it's web - all of the space below it was web. I think there were lots of fly-bodies there, otherwise I have no idea why it would eat the web strands. I think I helped it out, though - the web is built outside my door near an outside lamp that I seldom turn on, but tonight I did, and it has attracted all manner of flying things, most of them blundering through this web. The spider seems to be keeping real busy. Tomorrow I will probably forget all about it and walk right into it.

Next Day Note: Someone wrote back to me explaining why spiders eat their webs, and I found the following on Wikipedia:
Webs allow a spider to catch prey without having to expend energy by running it down. Thus it is an efficient method of gathering food. However, constructing the web is in itself an energetically costly process due to the large amount of protein required, in the form of silk. In addition, after a time the silk will lose its stickiness and thus become inefficient at capturing prey. It is not uncommon for spiders to eat their own web daily to recoup some of the energy used in spinning. The silk proteins are thus 'recycled'.