It's a good year for the Wasp Spider

If you are receiving this via email, please accept my apologies for the lack of posts in recent months. Please read the end of this blog where I explain.

Our first summer here I found three Wasp Spiders (Argiope bruennichi) in the garden, but since then, nothing. Imagine my surprise when deadheading in the Nectar Bar to realise I was disturbing a huge Wasp Spider! I then discovered one in the herb garden that same day, and in the last few days have been finding more. 

In all I have counted 14 in our garden! Most are in the ditch between our property and the gardens on the hillside next to us. The ditch is for run off during heavy rainfall, but is a godsend for wildlife as it's full of wildflowers and is just a wild jungle really, so a good place for creatures to hide from predators. Unless you are a pollinating insect, and the whole ditch has become one big Wasp Spider hang out! 

This spider above has a stabilimentum (the zigzag decoration) on its web, but I noticed that most of them don't. It could be that the stabilimentum has been disturbed by the amount of wind we get. The first spider that I found had its stabilimentum disturbed by me and whilst the spider eventually respun a great new web, it didn't bother with this part of it. A bit puzzling! However it's not known what purpose the stabilimentum actually serves though there are several hypotheses. 

Below is the one I first found in my Valerian in the Nectar Bar. It's one of the biggest, though they really range in size even in a small area like my garden.

The following two are taken showing the underside of the spider.

This one has a juicy fly or bee wrapped up in silk, or, quite possibly, her mate! I have noticed in one photo I took of this spider, three males hanging around the outside of her web. What's wrapped up is stripy though, and the males are rather brown looking and much less decorative, not to mention a lot smaller. You can see a picture of a male and a female together here.

I'm now going to look for their egg sacs, as I have yet to see one. They are supposed to be hung in the vegetation near the web and resemble an upturned Greek urn. Fingers crossed!


Email Subscribers

I only noticed a month or so back that I wasn't receiving my own copy of my blog via Feedio. I have no idea what happened but they have disappeared off the face of the internet, so I have had to find another provider to send emails out to you. I have gone with follow.it and let's hope they stick around for longer!

You have missed quite a few posts - I don't know from when exactly but it was early on this year I think.

Here are links to the posts I've made (most recent first) that you may be interested in reading:

Pyrenean Escapade with Birding Languedoc Part 2 

Pyrenean Escapade with Birding Languedoc - Part 1 

Wildflowers and orchids on a hillside in Laurac 

Black Redstart nest and new butterflies in the garden 

Orchids at home and another trip with Birding Languedoc 

Orchids, butterflies and more in the Upper Aude Valley - Part 2

Orchids, butterflies and more in the Upper Aude Valley - Part 1 

I think I need to catch up a bit 

Look what the snow brought! 

I think that's about it. Hope you enjoy the posts and thank you for following Chateau Moorhen!