Not everybody likes a spider, but they are fascinating creatures all the same.  We have many different spiders in the parish, they live in our homes, outbuildings, our gardens, hedgerows, and open countryside. 

On a sunny day in winter, we see shimmering sheets of webs across grass fields where money spiders have been ballooning into new territories. In our houses and sheds we have several species of large house spiders that we see running across our floors and also their predators the long-legged cellar or daddy-long-legs spiders.  Look out also for mouse spiders and false widow spiders. The tiny zebra jumping spiders run around our outside walls where they are warmed by the sun. 

On the sides of our sheds, we find the small missing-sector spiders and the flattened walnut orb weaver. Many spiders find our gardens and open spaces attractive including the garden spider, the four-spotted orb-web spider in its various colour forms, marbled orb-web spiders, and others. Out in the open will be wolf spiders and nursery web spiders, labyrinth spiders, and more.  

I must mention the spectacular and very large wasp spider with its black and yellow stripes and although I have never seen one in the parish, I have seen one only about 2-3 metres outside of the parish boundary and on the verge alongside the Winchester Road not far from the A3 junction. 

Sitting on ox-eye daisies and below thistle flowers we find flower crab spiders waiting for insects to land, trip their web strands, and be caught. Most are white to match white flowers, but they can be greenish, mauve, or even bright yellow, mimicking the colours of other flowers.