The
Garden Spider
The garden spider is the best known orb-weaving spider
in the UK.
They vary in colour from pale yellow or brown to almost black, but
they can always be identified by the white cross-shaped group of spots
on their abdomens.
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Garden spiders feed on flying insects including
butterflies, wasps and flies. They tend to ignore smaller prey
such as greenflies.
Garden spiders build a circular orb-web with a recognisable spiral
pattern. They sit in the centre waiting for an insect to collide
into the web. The spider then rushes towards the trapped insect
and wraps it in bands of sticky silk. When the insect is immobilised,
the spider will finish off the insect with a bite and an injection
of venom. It will then take the wrapped-up insect to the hub of
the web where it devours its victim.
Reproduction: The much-smaller male waits near the web of the
female until she is mature. He then cautiously approaches her
while plucking the strands of the web to let her know that he
is not food. If the male survives after mating, he may go on to
mate again. Occasionally though, the male is mistaken for a meal
and is eaten by the female.
After the female has mated, her body will become swollen with
eggs. The female then builds a silken egg sac and lays her eggs
in it. Her life is now dedicated to protecting these eggs and
she will sit with them, unable to hunt, until she dies in late
autumn. The spiderlings will hatch out in May of the following
year.
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The House
Spider
They are brown and hairy with long legs and are often seen
in and around houses and gardens. They are most common in log piles
and garden sheds.
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They feed
on crawling insects such as beetles, earwigs and cockroaches. House
spiders have even been seen feeding on earthworms. House spiders can
survive for months without any food or water.
The spider stands on top of a sheet-shaped web, waiting for insects.
Sometimes it will build a tube-shaped retreat where it can hunt in
safety.
Reproduction: After a male has located a female's web he will stay
with her for some weeks. During this time he will mate with her a
few times before eventually dying. The female does not kill the male,
but after he dies she eats him.
Males of the species are often found trapped in baths in houses. They
fall in after wandering around searching for a female, and can't get
out.
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The Long Jawed
Orb Weaver
Long-jawed orb-weavers are able to walk across the surface
of water. In fact, they are much faster on water than they are on
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They
have very long legs and a long abdomen. When they stretch out their
front and rear legs they form a straight line and can easily hide
against plant stems.
Long-jawed orb weavers are frequently found on low vegetation particularly
near water. They hunt flying insects found near water, such as damselflies
and mosquitoes.
This species builds a very loose orb web and either sits at the
centre or on a nearby plant and waits for insects to become entangled
in the web. The orb web is often nearly horizontal.
Reproduction: There is little or no courtship in this spider species.
They have very large jaws which lock together during mating - this
probably helps to ensure that the female cannot eat the male before
they have mated. The egg sac is deposited on a grass stem and resembles
a bird dropping, which camouflages it from predators.
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The Mothercare
Spider
Mothercare spiders are one of the few spiders that look after
their young after they hatch. They vary from black and white to pale
brown and white and they inhabit bushes and low vegetation.
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Mothercare
spiders sometimes live on thistles where the many spikes provide both
protection and support for the spider's web. They build a tangled
web amongst leaves and sit in a retreat made of leaves and insect
remains.
Despite their small size, they are capable of killing bees and wasps.
Reproduction: After mating, the female makes an egg sac and keeps
it with her in her retreat. When the young hatch she shares her prey
with them and even regurgitates food for the spiderlings who feed
from her mouth.
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Nurseryweb
Spider
They are grey, yellowish-orange or brown with a pointed abdomen. They
tend to sit with their front two pairs of legs together and their
rear two pairs of legs together, giving the appearance of having only
four legs.
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In June
and July, female nursery web spiders can be seen carrying their egg
sacs in their jaws.
Nursery web spiders predominantly inhabit
woodland, but they are also found in long grass and occasionally
hedgerows. On colder days these spiders will often come into houses
to escape the harsh weather.
They hunt small insects and occasionally other spiders.
Nursery web spiders do not use webs to trap prey. Instead they hunt
by waiting on a leaf until a victim wanders by.
Reproduction: In an effort to make mating less hazardous, the male
will catch an insect, wrap it up and carry it around until he finds
a female. He then presents it to her and mates with the female while
she is distracted by her meal. This lasts for about an hour or until
the female has finished eating her gift.
The female will make an egg sac and will carry it around with her
in her jaws until the eggs are nearly ready to hatch. She then constructs
a tent-like protective nursery web and will stay to fend off predators
from her young.
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Water Spider
A small dark brown and not particularly distinctive spider when on
land. Underwater it becomes more distinctive. Its abdomen is covered
in small hairs which help it trap a bubble of air. This gives the
spider a silvery sheen that resembles mercury as it swims through
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Water
spiders are found in ponds and live on a diet of insects.
This spider builds a silken retreat under water among plants which
it fills with air. The spider swims between the retreat and the surface
of the water, collecting air on its furry abdomen and transporting
it to its underwater hideaway. When the retreat is complete the spider
waits for potential prey to approach. The water spider is a good swimmer
and will catch prey and subdue it with its venomous jaws. The spider
will then return to its retreat to consume its prey.
Like all spiders the water spider needs to shed its skin to grow.
Usually the spider will climb out of water onto nearby vegetation
and shed its skin there. Occasionally, however, a spider might choose
to build a new retreat bubble specially for this purpose.
Mating takes place within the retreat and the female builds a special
egg chamber to lay her eggs in. She will stay in this egg chamber
to guard her eggs.
The bite from this spider is known to be painful. Back
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Wolf Spider
Wolf spiders are often seen in large numbers and it was once thought
that they hunted in packs - which is why they are named after the
predatory wolf. They are mottled brown.
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Wolf spiders
live on the ground in open areas. On sunny days, they can be seen
in large numbers in open patches of woodland.
They hunt small insects and sometimes other smaller wolf spiders and
actively hunt during the day.
Reproduction: When a male finds a female he will perform a courtship
dance involving waving his front legs about and vibrating his abdomen.
Often the female will respond by attacking him but the male persists.
If he is lucky he will be allowed to climb onto the female and mate
with her.
After the female has constructed an egg sac she will attach it to
her spinnerets at the tip of her abdomen and carry it around with
her. Because the egg sac is not carried in her jaws she is free to
continue hunting.
When the spiderlings have hatched they will climb onto the female's
back. She will discard the remains of the egg sac and continue hunting
while carrying her babies. The spiderlings remain with their mother
for about a week.
They can occasionally be seen walking across the surface of water,
either to escape a predator or to capture an insect that has fallen
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Woodlouse
Spider
This is one of the few species in the UK that can bite humans. Although
their venom is not dangerous to us, their bite can be painful due
to the strength of their jaws and some people may have an allergic
reaction to the venom. However, they are unlikely to bite.
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They have a dark red thorax and legs, and their abdomen is a creamy
yellow-brown. The most distinguishing characteristic of this spider
is its enormous jaws.
Woodlouse spiders are found under logs in warm places usually in
the vicinity of woodlice. They are occasionally found in houses.
They feed almost exclusively on woodlice. Woodlice have an armoured
body that is too tough for most spiders to crack, but the jaws of
the woodlouse spider are strong enough to break through.
They are nocturnal hunters that don't build a web. During the day,
they rest in a silken cell.
Courtship of these spiders is often very aggressive. The male and
the female have to be careful not to get injured by the other's
jaws. The female lays her eggs in the same silk retreat that she
stays in during the day. It is thought that after hatching the female
takes care of her young.
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Zebra Spider
Zebra spiders belong to the family Salticidae (also known as jumping
spiders) who are believed to have the best eyesight of any arthropod.
If you take a close look at one of these spiders it will often turn
its head to look straight back at you.
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The most distinctive feature of these spiders is their two very
large eyes. Although they have eight eyes, the two at the front
are the largest and give them excellent binocular vision. These
tiny spiders are black with white hairs that form stripes.
Zebra spiders can be found on walls, plants and fences on sunny
days.
They tend to hunt any insect or spider roughly the same size or
smaller than itself. They have been observed feeding on mosquitoes,
which are almost twice their length.
They use their large front eyes to locate and stalk their prey.
They move slowly towards their prey until they are close enough
to pounce on top of their victim, and their hunting behaviour has
been described as cat-like.
Using their acute eyesight, they are able to accurately judge the
distances they need to jump. Before jumping they glue a silk thread
to the surface that they are jumping from so that if miss the target
they can climb up the thread and try again. They ignore unappetising
insects such as ants.
Reproduction: When these spiders meet, the male carries out a courtship
dance involving waving his front legs and moving his abdomen up
and down. The better the dance the more likely the female will want
to mate, although arachnologists have yet to discover what it is
the female looks for in a mating dance.
Despite their good eyesight, males will sometimes accidentally
perform a mating dance in front of another male. When this happens
the two males usually fight. Males will also perform courtship dances
in front of their own reflection in a mirror.
Females will stay with their egg sacs and will guard the young after
they hatch. After the spiderlings have had their second moult they
will leave the mother to fend for themselves.
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