Cucumber spider with egg sac

 While looking for lily beetles, I found this female Araniella sp guarding its egg sac. The sac, made of coarse yellow silk threads, was attached to the underside of a leaf, and the female sat on a loose web underneath, where she was also eating an aphid (below). There are two extremely similar species, Araniella cucurbitina and A. opistographa, which can only be identified by inspection of their epigyne. Both are small and bright green, with a red mark over their spinnerets, which can often be seen from underneath. They live in trees and bushes, and are orb weavers, although their webs are quite small.

Mouse spider nest

As I checked the bee hotel, the Mouse Spider, Scotophaeus blackwalli, was looking considerably thinner than last time I checked. And lo and behold! She was guarding a fresh, pure white silky cocoon holding her eggs in a neat bundle. I will update this posts with further developments.

UPDATE 9th July. The female is still sitting right on top of the egg sac.