Wasp Spiders and their Egg-Sacs

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.

Carlton Marshes ... Spiders and Fluff

The fluffy thing above is a mystery is to me. Is it a moth cocoon? We saw it on Monday at Carlton Marshes. I feel I have seen this sort of thing before, but may be thinking of a kind of feather or the fluff from Rosebay Willowherb! Do please let me know if you have an idea ...

© David Gill 2014

The web contraptions in the pictures above and below definitely marked a couple of spiders' lairs.

Carlton Marshes is one of only a very few sites in the UK where you can find Fen Raft Spiders. I have not been lucky yet, but one of these days we hope to see one. Meanwhile I shall enjoy their blog ... here!

Arachnida (2): Green Orb Spider, female

I was delighted to find what I think must be a female Green Orb Arianella spider, having encountered the more rotund male for the first time some days ago. Both were spotted in Suffolk.

Do take a look at this remarkable photo of one preparing her egg case here.

Home Patch (20): White Crab Spider

This small bulbous spider was scuttling along in the morning sunshine, keen to hide on the underside of the leaves. Its speed made it hard to view properly or photograph, but I am guessing it is a Misumena vatia or White Crab Spider. I understand that the name in Dutch means 'Chameleon Spider', and apparently colour variation is well documented. Some of these spiders have stripes. They tend to show a preference for white flowers, so perhaps the one above was hoping to find some in our garden ... daisies, perhaps. Crab Spiders do not spin webs to catch their prey.

Arachnida (1): Green Orb Spider

This Green Orb Spider (Arianella) was scuttling about on its bush. Its abdomen looked like a round psychedelic-green bead, but as you can see, there are lines of black spot markings. There is often a red dot on the spinnerets on the underside.

When it comes to spiders and web-spinning, I thought the "click next to begin" sequence here was very helpful in a visual way.

Arachnida (1): Who's been hiding in the Escallonia?

An early morning visitor to our garden!

Beside the Sea (3): Laugharne, Red Velvet Mite and Curlew

Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK

We took a trip to Laugharne and walked along in the shadow of Dylan Thomas. His famous Boat House home is the white building closest to the estuary, at the end of the path that skirts the castle. 

Eutrombidium rostratus. Order: Trombidiformes

We kept our ears open for the sound of the Curlew. We heard a few Oystercatchers. There were plenty of Cockle shells on the shore. My eyes alighted on this tiny red creature above. It was less than a centimetre in length and, thanks to Ray Wilson's photograph, I can say that it appears to be a Red Velvet Mite. My thanks to David for his photo (posted above) of this minute creature. It belongs to the class of Arachnida and the sub-class, Acari. You can read more on the BugGuide.

We noticed this bird of prey on a telegraph pole. I tried to photograph it, but I was shooting into the sun. I would be grateful if anyone can identify it from this picture and the one below. I think it was smaller than a Buzzard.

 There was no sign of the Heron on Dylan's 'heron-priested shore' - though we noticed a solitary Little Egret. Laugharne, however, would hardly be Laugharne without a Curlew ...