The coffee bean spider, Steatoda bipunctata

I have just added these photographs on the web site of Steatoda bipunctata, the Coffee bean spider.

I found it on a log that I had actually put into the stove.  I saw something move and hauled it out again, just in time.  I don't know how many times I've done this even though I do brush everything off the logs before I bring them in.  The spider was OK, and I recognised it immediately.  I've seen this one or another of the same species many times when I've gone to bring in logs from the wood pile.  I've tried to catch it, but as I always have on gloves, by the time I get them off it had disappeared.  So finally got one to photograph.  She's a female, and was very friendly.  She walked all over my hand and never attempted to bite, but she wouldn't stay still enough for me to photograph, so I put her in a jar, and went out for a walk.  When I came back she had settled down to make a small web, so I was able to take this photograph.  

I wanted to put her back in the wood pile, but the weather was so horrible that I kept her for another day before putting her back in another stack that will not be disturbed until at least the end of this year.  We are having a mild winter this year, so she should be OK, and who knows perhaps I'll disturb her or her young next year.

Metellina segmentata or Meta segmentata, the Lesser garden spider, the Autumn spider

There is some confusion about the name of this spider, but that doesn't make it any less pretty.  It is supposed to be abundant, but this is the only one I have seen, although I imagine it is fairly well camouflaged, and it's web look a bit like the ordinary garden spider, so perhaps I have just missed it.

The photograph above is a close up of its eyes.  As spiders go it has fairly boring eyes as they are all pretty much the same size.

Tetrix denticulata

This is Tetrix denticulata.  I think it's a female, but I'm not sure.  I'd been trying to photograph this spider for ages.  She lives in the wall at the base of which I've been digging a border and planting.  I saw her many times, but never got a proper look as she scuttled back into the web as soon as there was any movement.  So I got the camera and tripod all set up, and them got on with some gardening.  Later, when I came back there she was sitting at the entrance to her web.  I think I have quite a few of this species in the wall.  I've seen bumblebees touch the edges of the web as they bask in the sun.  They are big enough to escape, though.

I'm going to plant up some pots of Freesia bulbs/corms tomorrow.  I know some say they can survive outside, but I'm not taking the chance.  This year I had them in a pot, but they were very disapointing as they flopped over everywhere.  However this time I am going to put a wire support or something around them to hold them up.  I do love the smell of Freesias.

I am still picking sweet peas, but only enough for a very small vase.  They took absolutely ages to get going this year, and only the ones facing south came to anything.  The ones facing east fizzled out very early on.

The cucumber spider

This stunning spider is a mature male Araniella curcubitina, commonly known as the cucumber spider.  I almost squashed him as he was crawling over the handle of my trowel when I went to pick it up.

His palps are swollen, so that means he is mature and on the hunt for a female to mate with.  I took him in and photographed him, then put him back in the greenhouse and left him to it.

I haven't seen any female cucumber spiders in there, however they do have small, untidy webs, so they could be at the back of the shelves.

I cannot get over how attractive this spider looks.  I got out the x10 lens to have an even better look, and he was very good and stayed still for a while.

I've just finished Kipling's The man who would be king.  I'd seen the film, but never read it before.  It was really good.  I might go back and read some more Kipling.  I used to devour his stuff when I was a kid, but I think it was all in the children's versions, and so probably cut and abridged.

Well Downton Abbey has finished.  I watched them all, and though I did thoroughly enjoy it I do think it was less good than the first series - but then that was a hard act to follow.

Araniella curcubitina

I took this photograph way back in July. The spider was on bracken and was busy wrapping up a small fly when this butterfly blundered into the web. It was touch and go for a while whether the butterfly would manage to escape, but as it fluttered its wings became stuck to the web, then the spider moved in and began wrapping it up. Although the spider has a red patch just above its spinnarets it is incredibly difficult to see unless it moves. As its fat, round body suggests it is in the orb-web family of spiders.

Tegenaria atrica

Found this mature female Tegenaria atrica while emptying my compost bin last month. I do not know how I didn't squash her. Anyway I certainly ruined her web, so I took her photograph and added it to the Aglenidae page then put her in my cold frame where I could do with her help.

The spider catches the fly

The spider catches the fly. This is a jumping or zebra spider, one of my favourites. It has eyes like headlamps and you really do feel it is watching you. But not this one, it was too busy with the fly it had just stalked and caught. No web, just sheer cunning and strength. Just like lions hunting prey 2 or 3 times their weight, except they hunt in a pride, this spider hunts alone on a wall in my garden.

Uses of spider silk

Just added a chunk of text to the main spider page on the many uses of spider silk - it's not just for webs.

• webs to catch prey


• wrapping to keep prey until it is required


• retreats on or near the web


• lining of burrows


• sacs to protect eggs


• safety drag-line when moving around


• parachute to balloon and aid dispersal of young or small spiders


• small sheet of silk made by males to deposit a droplet of sperm before it is taken up in the palp