Ralph Coller, Jr., age 14, of Hubbard, Ohio, for his question:

Why do spiders spin their webs between 2 and 4 a.m.?

It is said that the early bird catches the worm. This certainly is true in the world of nature where night crawling worms are on their way home before sunrise. The robins and, other worm eating birds must, indeed, get up early to catch their breakfast snacks. The spider, however, dines on assorted insects and we all know that pesky bugs are busy all day. Mrs. Spider catches her prey in a net of silken threads. Often it is a very compli¬cated structure and it takes a long time to weave it to her specifications. The spinner of the beautiful orb web may require an hour or even two hours to weave her web.

While working, she needs to be undisturbed. Outdoors, the pre dawn hours are the qud4test of the day. Some spiders start spinning as early as 2 a.m.; others wait until just before sunrise. As a rule, the spider arranges to have her work finished before the day begins. She cannot expect to trap bugs in a half finished trap. What's more, insects flying into a half finished net would destroy the incomplete work. So she must finish the job before the customers start arriving.