Wasp Spider - Argiope bruennichi
The bright colouring of the female Wasp Spider is what gives this species its common name, and also makes it unmistakable.
Habitat
It can be found at ground level in open areas where there is long grass and low vegetation.
Description
Males and females vary greatly from each other, the females are much larger then the males. Females are approximately 15mm males are just 4mm! It is only the females that are brightly marked black and yellow, they are also covered with short grey silky hairs; the males in comparison are pale brown in colour with dark lateral bands and some silky hairs.
Biology
Adults are normally seen from mid-August when they are mature and it is at this time that the large webs of the female are seen; some females are seen until October. In amongst the long grass it weaves its large web that can be up to 30cms in diameter. At the centre of the web is a characteristic vertical band of bright silk (this may help to camouflage the female). The female spends most of her time here waiting for prey to fly in. Their main prey consists of crickets and grasshoppers, but flies and other insects are also on the menu.
Males are normally found on a small thread close to the female and her web. He is waiting for her to complete her final moult. After this she becomes sexually mature and her jaws will be soft for a short time. During this short time the male can mate with the female without fear of being eaten; mating is particularly dangerous for the male as the female often eats them. Once the male has seduced the female she then usually wraps him in silk prior to eating him as he mates. His body provides valuable protein for the female when she produces eggs.
The female lays her eggs in a large sac that she hangs from the vegetation around her web. The female dies in the autumn and the young hatch in the spring. The Wasp Spider needs months of warm weather to be able to breed, coincided with a mild winter, as our climate is changing they are breeding in increasing numbers.
