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:

It’s one of my favourite living things. I’ve photographed them before, in Bristol:

Garden Spider – forty years ago in my nature notebooks

I try a little closer:

Here’s my drawing of one in my nature notebooks from 1976:

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.

I love them.