SPIDERS: lords of their mini-manors

THE discovery of a large colony of unfamiliar red spiders beneath the late Queen Mother's weekend home caused huge excitement at the time. The mystery spiders were said to be three and a half inches long, venomous, with jaws strong enough to pierce human skin.

Shocked BT engineers retreated when they came across swarms of the unusually aggressive spiders while working beneath the Royal Lodge in Windsor.

Despite initial concerns about a possible threat to the then elderly Queen Mother, entomologists were delighted by the find.

Some believed the spiders could be a completely new species or a fresh strain of an established one such as the woodlice eating Woodlouse Spider. Whatever these spiders were, the thought of thousands of them scurrying about in pitch darkness beneath a home would terrify most self-respecting arachnophobes.

But it is quite a fascinating idea for the rest of us. It also got me thinking of how much we take our more usual species for granted.

Spiders are deadly predators, lords of their own mini-manors, which ruthlessly kill flies and other insects.

Craftily setting a snare by spinning a web is the most typical method spiders use to catch their prey.

The Common House Spider - that dark brown species often found trapped in the bath - builds a simple triangular-shaped sheet web, mostly in corners.

After mating with a female, the male of this species dies and is eaten by his mate to provide extra nutrients for their offspring. That is some devoted dad.

The bulbous brown, yellow and white Garden Spider builds an intricate wheel-shaped web which can look quite beautiful in the morning sunlight but is a shimmering deathtrap for many insects.

Females of this species often eat the much smaller male by accident after mistaking him for dinner - a bit unfortunate since he is normally feeling romantic at this point.

Snares are spurned by the nomadic dark brown Wolf Spider. This makes no web at all and simply chases and runs its prey down wolf-like in the grass.

The female Wolf Spider does not even build a nest at breeding time and carries her eggs on her back in a silken sack.

When her young hatch, they continue clinging to her back for a week or so until strong enough to fend for themselves.

The Zebra Spider is that little black and white striped spider commonly seen hunting on the walls of your house at the height of summer.

Despite its name, the Zebra Spider is actually more like a tiny lion in its ferocity and hunting technique. First, it slowly stalks its prey then it leaps upon it.

Male Zebra Spiders perform a mating dance for females. Unfortunately, despite their large front eyes, males often mistake each other for a female and courtship ends in a savage fight.

It is not known what the Queen Mother thought of her creepy new guests but she had to get used to them - removal work took months.