Wasp Spider - Argiope bruennichi
Males 7-8mm, females 10-22mm. Large, brightly coloured and distinctively patterned spider. Juveniles and males may be less obvious than mature females. The large orb web is also distinctive with a vertical zig-zag stabilimentum.
Grassland and scrub, usually where grasshoppers, the main prey, are frequent. Mowing destroys the egg sacs preventing over wintering so usually found on rough ground.
Late summer-autumn.
The large flask-shaped egg sac overwinters low in vegetation, the young hatch and emerge in early summer.
Spreading northwards from its original sites in the south east.
Presently uncommon, occasional accidental introductions
Reginald William Price
The Copice Burbage
16 August 2025
Kay Dinsdale
Stanton under Bardon
30 August 2023
Kay Dinsdale
Stanton under Bardon
30 August 2023
Reginald William Price
The Copice Burbage
16 August 2025
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Species profile
- Common names
- Wasp Spider
- Species group:
- Spiders
- Kingdom:
- Order:
- Family:
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 2
- First record:
- 30/08/2023 (Dinsdale, Kay)
- Last record:
- 16/08/2025 (Price, Reg)
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% of records within its species group
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