Chesworth Farm - Wasp Invasion

Wasp Spider - Chesworth Farm

You may have read the title of this post and thought I know exactly what it was going to be about. WASPS! There have indeed been a large amount of Common Wasp's around in the last couple of weeks which believe it or not is a good sign as they are vital pollinators and pest insect controllers eating lots of aphids and caterpillars to feed their hungry larvae. However if you thought it was going to be about Wasps you are very wrong! It is in fact about Wasp Spiders (Argiope bruennichi) which is a fantastic arachnid recently discovered at Chesworth Farm.

Community Engagement Warden Ryan Allison was carrying out a conservation volunteer task pulling Creeping Thistle and Ragwort from Farm with Horsham Green Gym to allow the hay cut to be carried out in due course when one of the volunteers alerted Ryan to the huge brightly colours spider. Luckily Ryan was able to confirm it as a female Wasp Spider which turned out to be the first record for the Farm. This is exciting news as it now means we have Wasp Spiders at Southwater Country Park, Warnham LNR and Chesworth Farm.

 

Distinctive zig-zag patterned web

 After the volunteer task had finished Ryan and I headed back over to try and refind the spider to take some photos. Much to our surprise we ended up finding a total of eleven females in a very short search of the most suitable looking habitat. The habitat they seem to favour was the more coarse grasses where it is easier to build a strong web to catch their prey. When watching one of the spiders we noticed that she was wrapping up a prey item. It turned out to be a Meadow Grasshopper which is a fairly big catch! The female spider made light work however and in a matter of seconds the grasshopper was wrapped up and killed. You can see the grasshopper wrapped up in silk in the photo below.

Wasp Spider with Meadow Grasshopper prey

Wasp Spiders is a relatively new species to the British Isles with the first specimen found as recently as the 1920s. They are however common on the near continent and this has meant that with the effects of global warming this enigmatic species has been able to colonise the south coast of Britain. It is gradually moving its way north and we are very pleased to be able to play host to such a wonderful species. All of the photos are of female Wasp Spiders, males are much smaller and have a duller appearance being mainly brown. Female Wasp Spiders are renowned for being aggressive when reproducing and males are often killed and eaten by the amorous ladies!

Once we had taken a few photos of the wonderful spiders we let the Friends of Chesworth Farm know and Tim Thomas, part of the Friends group popped down the next day and managed to count 15 and I am sure there are many more. At the moment they are restricted to one of the fields on the Farm as far as we know and we will need to manage the haycutting carefully to ensure the continued existence of this wonderfully exotic creature.