Wasp Spider

A cool and damp day out with a couple of the Greenwillows ecologists looking at open spaces where a nearby local authority have changed their management regimes to try and encourage increased biodiversity.

We found some interesting plants and fungi, but perhaps one of the biggest surprises was the large number of Wasp Spiders present in areas of long grass. At one site we found at least ten in a jut a few metres!

This large, colourful spider is a recent arrival in the UK from the continent and has slowly spread north, first reaching our area less than ten years ago. It builds large orb webs in grassland and heathland, and attaches its silk egg-sacs to the grasses.