Wasp Spider

[knightjar]

My girlfriend found this at the school where she works and brought it home because she thought I'd like it. She was right.

Never seen one before. I don't know how unusual they are around here (London) but with luck she's mated and we'll get an egg sack. Time will tell.

 

[psionix]

which Argiope sp. is it?

Argiope bruennichi ?

i'm not very familiar with true spiders from the other side of the pond.

 

[knightjar]

I think she's Argiope bruennichi but I'm not sure - never encountered one before and they're not native to the UK.

 

[KUJordan]

looks so much like our A. trifasciata obviously not though. Great pic as well!

 

[psionix]

looks so much like our A. trifasciata obviously not though. Great pic as well!

i know! if he wouldn't have said he was in london, i would have said trifasciata for sure.

 

[danread]

I think she's Argiope bruennichi but I'm not sure - never encountered one before and they're not native to the UK.

Very nice, they are quite common in some areas, although they only tend to be found in the south east of the country.

Cheers,

 

[Bungholio]

It´s definitely a Argiope bruennichi.
Very interesting that this species found her way to England.

 

[Glen Southern]

I live in the North West of England and the haven't made it up this far yet as far as I can tell (BAS says they have been reported as far North as Derbyshire now.

I aquired three adult females this summer. The very same day they arrived one of the females made a fantastic `vase` shaped egg sack that she suspended in the center of the web. With in two months all three female were dead and I was begining to despare for the egg sac if I'm honest. I was sure mold or parasites would get at the eggs so I removed the sac and put it in a small pot resting on top of cotton wool. I put fine mesh over the top to allow air movement.

I've been told (and read) that the eggs hatch in the autumn but the slings will stay inside until the spring. Having decided the sack was a dud yesterday I stuck it under my scope to disect it and check out the contents and amazingly it was chock full of little slings and the nymph sheds were still very much in evidence in amongst them.

God only knows how I'm going to look after these little fella now. I have plenty of T's and true spiders but I've never kept Orb Weavers of any type.

 

[ixus]

I have found A. bruennichi in southern sweden too. Thy have been here for about 5 years now!

 

[knightjar]

Sounds like I may be being a little optimistic hoping for an egg sac if they produce them in early summer.

She is currently residing in a spare tank with plenty of vertical twigs to encourage web-making, which she is completely ignoring.