Lesser garden spider

Lesser garden spider (Metellina segmentata)

Web: small orb web that is suspended under an angle in grasses, herbs and low bushes.

Habitat: on vegetation in a lot of different habitats such as roadside, grassland, gardens, woodland. Often in large numbers.

How to recognize:

• cephalothorax with dark, Y-shaped figure
• abdomen white to yellow to reddish, with vague leaf figure.

Looks similar to:

• Can only be reliably distinguished from Metellina mengei based on the reproductive organs.

Size

♀: 6,5-9 mm

♂: 7-7,5 mm

When?

♀: August till October, but in mild winters, sometimes till early spring

♂: August till October