Copyright Chris Frost 2019 | All Rights Reserved

Garden spider (Araneus diadematus)

The Garden spider is the UK’s most common orb web spider and is abundant in gardens, grassland and woodland – it can be found almost everywhere, in fact. It builds a ‘typical’ spider web (spirals with radial threads) out of sticky silk. It sits in the middle of the web, waiting to feel the vibrations of a struggling insect caught in the sticky threads. It then rushes out and wraps its prey tightly in silk. Once immobilised, it will kill its victim with a venomous bite.

Adults appear from June to November, and the young emerge from their silk egg sac the following spring.

Seen in the gardens of Chiswick House in August 2020

0Shares


Leave a comment