Diadem Spider
I’m at Bovey Heathfield. It’s not quite Dartmoor and the heath is a lowland heath. There are plenty of spiders blocking the paths. It’s Araneus diadematus:
![Diadem Spider - Bovey Heath - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Diadem-Spider-Bovey-Heath-The-Hall-of-Einar-0710.jpg)
It’s one of my favourite living things. I’ve photographed them before, in Bristol:
I try a little closer:
![Diadem Spider - Bovey Heath - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Diadem-Spider-Bovey-Heath-The-Hall-of-Einar-0700.jpg)
Here’s my drawing of one in my nature notebooks from 1976:
![Araneus diadematus 1 - The Hall of Eianr - (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Araneus-diadematus-1-The-Hall-of-Eianr-c-David-Bailey-not-the.jpg)
Wikipedia says, “They attack based on their size, sexual experience and hunger levels”. That’s only when they are indulging in a little light cannibalism.
![Diadem Spider - Bovey Heath - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Diadem-Spider-Bovey-Heath-The-Hall-of-Einar-0697.jpg)
I love them.