Metellina merianae

Description

Length 8 to 12 mm. Quite variable in pattern and colour. Prosoma yellowish green, with irregular black stripes, margin black. Sternum black. Chelicerae red-brown. Legs yellowish green, annulated and spotted irregularly with black. Opisthosoma greenish, brownish to almost black, dorsally with vague folium, ventrally with broad, dark median part. 

Identification difficulty
Recording advice

Variable in appearance, good quality photographs required. 

Habitat

This spider produces an orb web in shady, damp habitats, but is usually found concealed away from its web during the day.

When to see it

Both sexes have been recorded throughout the year, with peaks in late spring/early summer and late summer/autumn.

UK Status

Widespread in Britain. 

VC55 Status

Quite common, in suitable habitats, in Leicestershire and Rutland.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Species group:
Spiders
Kingdom:
Animalia
Order:
Araneae
Family:
Tetragnathidae
Records on NatureSpot:
6
First record:
30/06/1996 (Jon Daws)
Last record:
26/07/2022 (Cann, Alan)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

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