Happy Snappy Ecologist: Autumn spiders

With each shift in season there is a new area of nature on which to focus. Right now it's spiders! Autumn is the time of year when I find them most visible and that always inspires a spider hunt. Just a few species found over the last week or so to share with you.

This first one is new to my garden and has rather stolen my heart. She only comes out at night and will hide in her leaf home when disturbed. I asked her to come back out for a photo - and she did!!

Marbled orb weaver Araneus marmoreus var. pyramidata

Another from my night time garden foraging. My daughter has named this one the 'fence spider' as that's where they like to hang out. The name has stuck so well that when I was looking for its Latin name I started under 'f' for 'fence'! It has a characteristically flattened body which is great as it helps me not to squash it as I open and shut the gate - it likes to rest up between the hinges!

Walnut orb weaver Nuctenea umbratica

Also living in my overgrown garden are many of these spiders sometimes know as the 'missing sector orb weavers'. This is because instead of spinning a perfect circular web like the other orb weavers they have a section missing in one corner. Spider's webs are fascinating - I have a project in mind for a children's picture book featuring a very silly story and lots of different spiders web designs but that's.......for another day.

Missing sector orb weaver Zygiella x-notata

My son spotted this tiny spider on our local heath amongst the heather and declared 'Mum! You have to get the macro on this!' Not that easy, as it was tiny and rather shy and my children marched off half way through and filled the heath with cries of 'Mum - come quickly you have to see this!' - it was a great day exploring 😃

Agalenatea redii

This species is another of my favourites and lives on the wall by my back door all year round. I took this in black and white but as the name suggests that is the true colour of the spider. Unlike the rest of the spiders shown it doesn't build a web but is one of the 'jumping spiders' that uses a stalk and pounce technique to catch prey.

Zebra spider Salticus scenicus

Finally, let's enter the house. We get a lot of what are commonly called Daddy long-legs spiders. Normally if I see one with an egg sac I re-home it with apologies to the shed as we have far too many in the house already. Missed this Mama though and the babies are pretty cute.......at the moment.

Daddy long-legs spider Pholcus phalangioides

Thank you for looking at my collection of spider pictures and I hope you liked them! I am indebted to the UK Spider Identification Group on Facebook as some of the super clever experts on there helped me identify some of these. I love being part of these groups as it has really helped me learn a lot.

Happy Snappy Ecologist: Rambling through nature makes me very Happy and I can't resist getting Snappy with my hand-held Panasonic Lumix FZ45 with clip on Raynox 150 macro lens. This helps me share my love of Ecology with others and reminds me to identify and find out more about different species when I get home. Enjoy!