More spiders expected this autumn

A spider's silk is incredibly strong

Charles David, the entomology secretary at the Société Guernesiaise, said we may see more spiders in autumn 2009.

Last year's wet autumn followed by a temperate summer were favourable breeding conditions for a number of species.

Mr David said autumn is when you see the most spiders' webs because it is the season when spiders "grow up".

He said they hatch in the spring, grow up during the summer and in the autumn lay egg masses before dying.

Mr David said one of commonest species is the garden cross spider which can be identified by the cross on their backs.

Garden cross spiders are very common

He said watching spiders spin their webs was a "fantastic" sight to watch.

He explained they begin by spinning a rough outline and then they create the radii. From here they go round in a circle from the inside out, and then repeat the process the other way.

The webs are used to catch food, which has an added benefit for us as Mr David said: "If it wasn't for them there would be an awful lot of other insects around.

"Spiders' silk is absolutely amazing stuff! It's so strong - stronger than steel I think... but it's very difficult to get it out of the spider, so it isn't of much use."