Labyrinth Spider

Out on the spider hunt again today as husband's morning dog-walk took him past lots of webs - lots of funnel shaped ones. He's not a fan of spiders so wouldn't dream of investigating further.

To get this image I braved a difficult fence with barbed wire (thank goodness I was wearing my really old jeans as they are now only fit for rags), brambles and nettles. I have some tingling fingers where I took hold of a nettle instead of the camera focus ring!

I found another Nursery Web Spider although she seemed to be guarding an empty nest and then this lovely creature. She lives in a tunnel and is so far down that she's not normally seen. I was lucky and managed to spot this one having a snack of Ant. This is at the limit of my Macro lens so may be a bit 'noisy' with the heavy cropping but the result is worth the tears and scratches.

Details of this arachnid are:
Labyrinth Spider

At this time of the year, the funnel webs in our gardens are normally the work of Labyrinth spiders. Labyrinths are common, shy little critters, and being a dull grey-brown colour they go largely unnoticed. It's only when they start building their webs that they draw attention to themselves.

Labyrinth spiders are UK natives and build sheet webs that lead down to intricate, labyrinthine tunnels where they can eat their dinner in peace. This funnel web is really quite a magical piece of defensive architecture, designed to protect the spider’s eggs.
If you were able to shrink yourself down to the size of a labyrinth spider and travel down the funnel you would enter a spiralling labyrinth of silk corridors. If you found your way to the centre you would eventually arrive at the curious looking egg sac, tethered in mid-air by strands of silk from all sides of the labyrinth.
Labyrinth spiders can be found on grassland and heathland and like to snack on grasshoppers and crickets.

So, go hunting in the hedgerows and look out for funnels - be grateful they are not Funnel web spiders that live in Australasia and are deadly!

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