US social scientist Kenneth Boulding : ‘If you believe exponential growth can go on in a finite world, you are either a madman or an economist’.

Thursday, 3 September 2009

3/9/09: Wasp Spider found on Barnehurst allotment

I found my first ever Wasp Spider (Argiope bruennichi) today. It was first recorded in this country in 1922, and appears to have somehow been introduced from the continent. Previously confined to the south coast, it has more recently started spreading northwards.

This female, which is much larger and more exotic-looking than a male of the species, was disturbed when I was clearing some grass, weeds and dead Phacelia tanacetifolia stems from around some irises on my Dad's plot on the Grasmere Rd allotment site in Barnehurst. If there was a web, I inadvertently destroyed it.


Female Wasp Spider on Barnehurst allotment site



Enlarged view

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