Uloborus plumipes (49077486003)

Description:

Description: Uloborus plumipes, also known as the Feather-legged Spider (derived from the Latin pluma "feather" and pes "foot"), or Garden Centre Spider, is a European species now widely distributed in greenhouses and garden centres worldwide. Believed to have been imported from The Netherlands on plants and first recorded in the UK in the 1990's, this species survives in greenhouses and buildings where the winter temperature is maintained above freezing. In this habitat it appears to play an effective role in controlling whitefly, but they are not commonly found in domestic houses. Although it is now widely distributed across the UK, they are cryptic and difficult to spot as they hang upside down motionlessly in their webs. Their horizontal webs and star-shaped egg sacs are much easier to find than the spiders themselves. Females grow up to 6mm and appear to vastly outnumber males, but this may be because the 4mm males are even more cryptic than the females. This species lacks venom glands and traps prey by entanglement in fuzzy, non-sticky cribellate silk. Date: 16 November 2019, 15:08. Source: Uloborus plumipes. Author: AJC1. Camera location52° 33′ 31″ N, 1° 03′ 46.85″ W View all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap 52.558612; -1.063013.