 |
Female Wasp Spider, home patch
|
We first encountered these fascinating spiders (Argiope bruennichi) in September 2020. Between 5th and 9th September last year I recorded four females, the large striped ones, in our home patch.
We have enjoyed watching them again this year, though we have never seen more than three at a given time. This morning we discovered a second egg-sac in the long grass, so we hope this means that there will be more Wasp Spiders in 2022.
These spiders like natural grassland, and we suspect it is our lack of mowing, the result of a pledge we made at the Suffolk Wildlife Trust Summit, that has attracted them to our wild garden. The long grass has certainly attracted grasshoppers, a key food source.
The discovery of a new egg-sac seemed a good moment to post some of our Wasp Spider photos. I hope you enjoy them!
 |
Female with prey
|
 |
| Ditto |
 |
Female with egg-sac
|
 |
Female near the stabilimentum
|
You can read about the 'ultra-violet reflective' stabilimentum or zigzag section of web here in the beginning of an article.
 |
Underside of female (with egg-sac)
|
 |
Female with egg-sac
|
 |
Damp weather; female with parcel of prey
|
 |
| Stabilimentum |
 |
| Evidence of two different spider species in close proximity | |
|
|
 |
Female upside-down, with egg-sac
|
 |
Female and egg-sac
|
 |
| Female |
 |
| Underside of female. Stabilimentum | |
|
 |
| Stabilimentum |
 |
Do you see the tiny spider on the right? Is this a different species?
|
The male Wasp Spider is much smaller than the female. It is light brown and has two yellow lines running along the underneath of the abdomen.
 |
Is the same spider as the tiny curled creature in the photo above?
|
|
 |
... and this? Do leave a comment if you know.
|
 |
Wasp Spider egg-sac spotted on Sutton Heath near Woodbridge
|
My thanks to David (Gill) for a couple of the photographs in this post.
Wonderful shots & you are lucky to have these in your garden. I do see them locally though.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Conehead54, for your kind comment. The final photo shows the only WS egg-sac i have encountered locally beyond our garden. I guess the soil won't be too different, sandy in each case, but our garden is full of grass and the heath is covered in heather. I wonder if you have seen a male?
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos and such an interesting post. The egg sac is amazing. A super species to have in your garden.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much re: Hamnet and your recommendation. I have bought it for the kindle :)
Thank you, RR, for your kind comment. I hope you will find 'Hamnet' as compelling as I did. I loved the concept, the characterisation and the way in which the author moved us towards the ending. I am currently reading 'The Silk Weaver' by Liz Trenow.
ReplyDeleteThis is great, so into spiders this year so a little jealous you are getting to see these spiders. They are a long way of my part of Yorkshire.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Amanda, for commenting. I hope you somehow manage to see one of these before too long. It's taken a while for them to reach East Anglia from the south!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing these photographs.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
These are brilliant photos, Caroline! I've never seen wasp spiders, but would love to one day!
ReplyDelete