The Garden Spider – Araneus diadematus

Posted by Amanda on Nov 27, 2010 in Blog, Wildlife and weather | 0 comments

Autumn is the time when I really notice spiders. I love the cleverness of their webs. This web is by one of the commonest British orb-web spiders, the Garden Spider, Araneus diadematus. It’s constructed by a female spider in two stages; first it is spun with non-sticky silk, with a central inner spiral created for the spider to await her prey, then secondly, she goes back over the outer spiral, eating it and replacing it with sticky silk, keeping herself from sticking by coating her feet in oil.  Quite amazing!

Mission accomplished! Here’s a female garden spider having caught a fly.

And although markings vary from spider to spider, you can easily recognise her by the white cross on her back.