Zygiella x-notata

This little chap (or lady I should say) goes by the rather wonderful name of Zygiella x-notata.  It is pretty widespread in the UK apart from the far north, and will be familiar to some people as the spider that sits in the corner of window frames.  It is a highly synanthropic (associated with human environments) species.  If you have a look at the corners of your own windows, the is a very good chance that you will have several of these making a good living in their chosen habitat.

















This is an example of the silken spinning that the spider uses as a refuge and sits in to wait for prey:















It lays its egg sacs wrapped in yellow silk on hard surfaces in the autumn, and the spiderlings will hatch out in the spring.  If you look closely there is a spider in there too!

Zygiella x-notata egg sacs

 The spider recording scheme shows few records for Glamorgan, but I have seen these in a number of locations including Cardiff, Barry and Rhoose, so I am pretty confident they are in fact quite widely distributed.




















Source: Spider Recording Scheme/British Arachnological Society (2012) Website and on-line database facility
Permalink: http://srs.britishspiders.org.uk/portal.php/p/Distribution/s/Zygiella+x-notata/o/23/u//x/