Nursery Web Spider

Pisaura mirabilis


I can understand why people don't like spiders, however I find them fascinating. This one gets its name from the tent-like web built by the female to protect the young.


The sneaky male has a trick up his sleeve when it comes to mating. He gift wraps his prey in silk  and offers it to his potential mate. While she is dealing with this, he takes advantage. But occasionally, he will  offer her nothing more than a wrapped piece of vegetation, or even an empty ball of silk. The devil!