GARDEN CROSS SPIDER

Hanging head down in her web, this garden cross spider (Araneus diadematus) will have laid her eggs and is now tucking in to a few more juicy flies before the frosts come and kill her.

This species can be identified by the cross on the back.  They make the most noticeable orb webs - at least the females do; the males trot round trying to mate with the females without getting eaten.  It's a hard life.

Araneus webs show up especially well on bushes after a heavy dew, like sparkling cartwheels.  But there is another orb web spider, the window spider (Zygiella x-notata) which leaves a sector of the web missing.  

This is because she hides in an inconspicuous nook with a signal thread passing down through the 'missing' section of the web to the centre.  When an insect lands in the web, she feels the vibration, runs down the signal line, paralyzes the prey, wraps it in silk and scampers back to her hidey hole to feed.

Many Zygiellas last right through the winter.  They are often to be found on window frames, gates and even car mirrors.