Summer is a good time for photographing spiders. Spiders aren’t too nervous so if you’re careful you should be able to get close enough to get some great closeup shots. Below are photographs of some of the spiders found at Woodwalton Fen at the moment.
Nursery Web Spider.
In the summer you will find this spider sunbathing on leaves. These spiders use strength and speed to catch their prey rather construct a web. The female carries her eggs in a ball shaped egg sack, just before the baby spiders hatch she builds an enclosed silk web and put’s them inside for protection. I will be posting a photograph of a Nursery Web spider with an egg sack in a later post.
Common Fox Spider
This spider does not spin a web instead it waits to ambush it’s prey. I watched this spider catch the fly it’s eating in this photograph. Once it decided to pounce it moved at lightening fast speed.
Crab Spider
A strange looking spider when seen from the front, this is another ambush predator that doesn’t spin a web either.
Long-Jawed Orb Weaver Spider
There are loads of these spiders around at the moment. They are easy to identify due to their long legs. They catch their prey by spinning webs.
Fen Photos. 