Hi! I am not usually a spider person, but this summer I've had a spider that lives in our doorway that I've grown to love. I love watching her spin her web at night. I was wondering if anyone knew any info on what kind of spider she is, how long will she live, when her babies will hatch, or any info about her. People think I'm nuts for keeping her around as a "pet". I named her Anne and have grown so fond of her. She's a beautiful creature. I've uploaded some pictures to see if anyone could help me identify what kind of spider she is. Thanks so much!
Questions about outside spider
I can't help you with ID, I think you would have better luck on the Insect ID forum.
Also, you may want to try and get a picture that shows her whole back and shape - all these seem to be from the side.
I notice that they are at night, and I can comment on that. I have noticed that the larger a spider becomes, the more nocturnal it becomes. Apparently they instinctively know that the larger they are, the more visible they are, and the more likely they are to become bird bait.
My late mother kept big pet spiders, too. They are interesting to watch.
It is an orb weaver of some kind. They are very helpful in catching mosquitoes and moths. They are pretty awesome at webmaking and can have support lines between trees that are far apart for a web in the middle. They also learn where not to put support lines because it is high traffic (like the gate) and will adjust their next web in same general area, but support lines will not be in the way of the gate anymore. I had one that made her web across my doorway, but moved it to be perpendicular to the door so I didn't have to run into it.
Some kinds of wolf spiders and definitely jumping spiders are daytime hunters no matter how big they are. Perhaps their favorite food is available only during the day. This is a photo of a green lynx spider that caught a wasp - usually, I see wasps eat green lynx spiders! She was probably eating my butterflies, too.