Orange spider, please ID

[Luna_Raine]

Hi, my son spotted this walking along the curb this morning. I am utterly terrified of spiders, dead, alive, on film, in photos. This thing was amazing though. My camera phone is broken, so my sister came and took a picture of it. It's body is around 1cm long. It didn't scuttle, but really calmly trotted in a straight line for about half an hour.

Oh, and it is in Boscastle, North Cornwall.

Thanks kindly for any answers or ideas.
Lorien

[faz]

its a garden spider araneus diadematus its harmless no need to worry

[Jason Green]

Afternoon Lorien,

I agree, probably A. diadematus as said. Looks a little dehydrated.

Take care,

Jason

[Luna_Raine]

Thank you for your replies. It was such a bright orange that it really did not look like it belonged here. Very spectacular.

Could you explain though, how do you know it is dehydrated?

Cheers Muchly
Lorien

[frits_b]

It can also look this way after laying eggs. Here's a garden spider I recently found, clearly not long after she laid eggs.

[No.9 Spider]

Originally Posted by Luna_Raine

Thank you for your replies. It was such a bright orange that it really did not look like it belonged here. Very spectacular.

Could you explain though, how do you know it is dehydrated?

Cheers Muchly
Lorien

Abdomen is shrunken and a bit wrinkly, may be dehydrated as said or recently laid eggs as frits says. The abdomen of a spider will rapidly increase in size relative to the amount it eats.


No.9 Spider