This little lady (about 5mm long) is a cobweb spider (Theridiidae sp., possibly Theridion varians, although the geographic range is wrong for that). She lives on my garage door, and I’ve photographed her a couple times “posing” with that Asian tramp snail (Bradybaena similaris) shell. This morning she had produced a beautiful egg sac of her very own!

The last photo is of her close next-door neighbor, who had also produced an egg sac. She had also attracted a suitor — an adult male Theridion sp. — who was approaching with some trepidation.

Theridiidae are also known as tangle-web spiders, and comb-footed spiders, for the comb of serrated bristles on the tarsus of the fourth leg.

Here’s a similar spider a couple of years (and some better gear) later.