In contrast the male is small and drab looking and usually hangs about on the edges of a female’s web. He builds a ‘mating thread’ and attaches it to the main web, vibrating it with the hope of attracting the lady of his dreams. If she isn’t in the mood these dreams may become nightmare for our humble little bloke as his lady love will have him for tea. A wise gentleman spider needs to be a fast mover as ladies get hungry even if things go well and there is many a male spider getting around on fewer than eight legs thanks to encounters of the romantic kind.

The web of the St Andrew’s Cross spider is distinctive.  The cross, or stabilimentum, was thought to stabilise and strengthen the web. We now think the white silk reflects ultra-violet light, attracting flying insects that use UV light to find food and to navigate through openings in vegetation.

The shiny white silk increases the web’s catching efficiency so even though it makes the web’s owner more obvious to day-time predators like birds and wasps the trade-off is worth it in extra tucker.

There are also suggestions that the cross could serve as a warning to birds. They only need to dive through the web once to realise that the effort required to clean spider silk off plumage isn’t worth the trouble of a small eight-legged dinner. A spider can also shake a web vigorously if threatened, and the stabilimentum becomes a blur, confusing predators.

The stabilimentum of an immature spider is circular and shelters the cream coloured spider, providing a disguise and a sunshade. As the spider grows she creates the cross in her web.

These measures are not always successful and many beautiful jewelled ladies end their lives stuffed paralyzed into mud wasp nests for young wasps to feast on.

The venom of the St Andrew’s Cross spider is not harmful to humans but they may bite if handled so enjoy this brightly spangled bug catcher from a distance.