Eight Legged Freak

I went to Norman's Pond, Fishers Green this afternoon on my continued quest for dragonflies. There were a few on the wing but I only got one shot and it was from quite a distance.

I did shoot my first small copper butterfly, such a brilliant orange and a delicate little thing. I was sure that I was going to post it until I saw the above.

I thought at first as I looked down on it that it was a queen wasp. I usually try to get shots focused on the eyes but this spider's abdomen is its most interesting feature. The cephalothorax is tiny and grey. On closer inspection I could see that it was a wasp spider. I had been told about them by a fisherman who had seen them on Rainham marshes.

They first came to the UK in the 1920s and are moving gradually north. They live in areas of undisturbed rough grass and make their webs close to the ground to catch grasshoppers.

They featured in the film Eight Legged Freaks.