Candy Stripe Spider

Enoplognatha ovata

This is quite a treat to catch sight of in my garden, but not sweet enough to eat! I usually spot them amongst flower heads or leaves where they spin small webs to snare small invertebrates.

Also called the ‘Comb-footed Spider’, this small spider comes with abdomens in three colour variations. One is pale green with black dots, another is pale with two broad red stipes and lines of black dots, and finally another is pale with a single broad red band and black spots. Body length females 4-6mm, males 3-5mm.

The female lays her eggs within a protective folded leaf held together with silk threads. It feeds on small insects.

They mature in the summer. Found in a variety of habitats on low vegetation such a bushes. Common and widespread throughout the British Isles.

Photograph taken September 2012, local field,  July 2014 and June 2016, rear garden amongst plants, Staffordshire.