Yolanda Gayle Washington, age 10, of Gary, Indiana, for her question:

Why does a spider abandon her web?

Yolanda found a spider web and searched for the spider who spun it. One would expect the spider to be hiding in a nearby corner, waiting to grab the flies that got caught in her silken net. But that spider was not on duty    and nowhere to be found. Actually, many webs are deserted, especially when they are old and ragged. Only the new ones work well because flies that bash into them tangle the threads and make holes in the net.

A spider that builds a web is a very hard worker. If she lives in the garden she gets up before sunrise and toils for at least an hour to build her cunning web. Then she hides nearby in the shady shrubbery. During the day, several flies and perhaps a big fat bumblebee get caught in her net. They tear ragged holes, but the spider does not .try to repair the damage. She just abandons the old web. Tomorrow, bright and early in the morning, she will spin herself a brand new one.