Social Distancing Week 3. Missing-sector Orbweb Spider

Paul writes: Sometimes a spider’s web is more interesting than the spider itself. You don’t have to look at this web for long before realising how the spider got its English name. The left hand side section of the web contains no spiral threads, hence the missing sector. The radial thread that bisects the empty sector leads to the spider’s retreat and it is here that the spider waits, holding the thread with its feet, to sense when any prey is caught in the web.

I found this web in my garden last week, attached to a sculpture of a giant dragonfly. I was hoping I would be able to lie in wait with my camera and get a good picture of the spider with its prey. However when I came back a couple of hours later the perfect web had been totally wrecked. It was a windy day and I think all the spider’s hard work had been destroyed by a strong gust. I have searched the garden since then but have been unable to find a new web in a more sheltered spot.

There are two species of Missing-sector Orbweb spider that occur in the UK, both in the same genus. I think this must have been Zygiella x-notata, as it is the one most closely associated with human habitation. They are quite common and are usually found close to buildings where they spin their webs in the corner of window frames or doorways. I see the spider occasionally but it is normally the web which draws my attention.

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