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Wasp Spider (Argiope bruennichi)

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968 views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  peterd  
#1 ·
When fishing on a grassy bank, look out for this spider. It is one of the Orb weaving family. It's web is made between blades of tall grass and it commonly feed on grasshoppers. The female grows to between 10-14mm (body) long. The male is very much smaller and has to time mating to the female's last moult to avoid being eaten.

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Underside view.

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Top view. This was taken with sky as the background, the spider having obligingly climbed to the top of a grass stem. To take this photograph, I had to lie on my back at a difficult angle but was pleased with the result.

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Side view

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Wrapping a captured Grass hopper.

These spiders are more commonly seen in the south of the UK.

Thanks for looking