Garden or Cross Spider | Sheffield city nature diary by Penny Philcox

Garden or Cross Spiders (not their state of mind, just their markings) are the most frequent of the UK’s 40 species of Orb Web-building spiders ( 2,800 species of Orb Spiders worldwide). They vary in size and colouring so the cross markings are key– this one is bright yellow and small, indicating it is quite young. They sit at the edges of their web, holding a special, strong, signalling thread through which they detect vibrations of the trapped insect. They then rush out and paralyse it with a bite, and wrap it tightly in silk. Meanwhile the substance in the bite begins to liquefy the insect’s body and it can be easily sucked out