When we found a small spun mass we thought was created by a spider, we decided to learn a little more.
This is a cocoon spun by a female spider to protect her eggs. The male spider doesn't stay around for long for fear of being eaten! The spider that has laid this is a common garden spider 'Araneus diadematus'. Her size is approximately 18mm and she will swell up full of eggs before laying them in this cocoon.
She will eat butterflies, wasps and flies but won't eat smaller prey such as greenfly. A baby spider is called a spiderling.
Other common names for her include cross spider, European garden spider and garden orb-web spider.
The eggs look like mini ping pong balls.
Aimee and Abi Year 5
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