Creature feature - ladybird spider
In 1906 conservationists feared the colourful ladybird spider had become extinct from Britain. But they were wrong! In 1979 a small colony was discovered alive and thriving in some of the country’s remaining heath. Since then conservationists have restored and protected this habitat and today the population has grown to nearly 1,000 of these creepy-critters!
Habitat loss is a serious problem for these sneaky spiders, but their numbers remain low because the females can’t lay eggs until they are four years old, which is late if you’re a spider!
To make things worse, when the young hatch from their eggs, they eat their mum. Gross! And your parents thought you were naughty! Unsurprisingly, the male spiders live alone, probably because they don’t want to be eaten by their children...
The female ladybird spider is much bigger than the colourful male and has no coloured markings.
In case you hadn’t already guessed, the ladybird spider gets its name from the red and black markings that make it look like a ladybird. Only mature males have these distinct markings, the females are black or dark grey.
Spiders usually give people the creeps because they have large, hairy bodies and lots of long legs, and if you look at this picture below, you can see why! This is a female ladybird spider, see how she has no colouring and looks just like a normal creepy-crawly...
Even though the ladybird spider has done well to bounce back from extinction, there is still a lot of work to be done and that’s why the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), who usually look after our feathered friends, relocated 30 ladybird spiders to one of their nature reserves this summer. Yay!
By moving the spiders to new areas of the country, hopefully this will make the species less vulnerable and help boost their numbers. So next time you see a ladybird in your garden, look a little closer and it might be not be a ladybird at all!
FAST FACTS
- The scientific family name for spiders is Araneae.
- The threads of silk that spiders produce to make their webs is five-times stronger than steel of the same size. Wow!
- The UK is home to more than 600 species of spider.
- Female ladybird spiders are one of the biggest spiders in Britain!
- They can measure 16mm, compared to the much smaller males, which are approximately 10mm.
- According to the Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats, the ladybird spider is Britain’s most elusive arachnid.
- Dorset is the only place in Britain you will find ladybird spiders, although the species does live in other European countries.
- Ladybird spiders spend most of their time living in silk lined burrows underground.
- They attack large beetles, bees and wasps then drag them underground to gobble up. Yuck!
Words: Gavin Haines
Images: Ian Hughes