Nursery Web Spider

Oh dear... the sun is out and so are the spiders and insects. Some of you may have to desert me until the autumn comes! When I started to attack a border full of nettles in this mornings sunshine I became aware of a multitude of spiders, all sunbathing on the leaves. My gardening was almost brought to a halt, not for fear of the inhabitants but my insane remorse for removing their homes. I did get a lot done but am giving the wildlife 24 hours to move on before I finish. A large patch of Dead Nettles are destined to remain as they are the staples of the Bumblebees at the moment.

This is a Nursery Web Spider, Pisaura mirabilis. They come in a variation of colours from these tans to dark greys, hunting insects in the undergrowth. This is breeding season so often you can find them on leaves, their front legs held together as in the photo or curled up looking like a fallen dead flower head. The positioning of their eyes is also a good way to ID them. Although Pisaura, as a genus, are found around the world, this is the only species found in the UK and is very common.

They don't spin webs to catch their food, preferring surprise and ambush as a means to hunt. The name Nursery Web comes from the silk wrapped balls of eggs the females carry under their abdomens until they are almost ready to hatch. When the time comes, she spins a web to tie a couple of leaves together, forming a protective nest where her young can hatch and she can tend them.

I had another spider image and didn't know which one to blip. I went for placing the hirsute unidentified Crab Spider in my blipfolio.