Overview

• The encounter at Roydon Common was captured by photographer Julie Smart on August 12, following a sighting in an Oby private garden earlier this month.
• Originally native to southern Europe, wasp spiders have expanded from southern England into East Anglia as UK summers grow warmer.
• The spiders are distinguished by their vivid black-and-yellow stripes and the zigzag stabilimentum they weave into their webs.
• They are active from April through October, peaking in late summer, and pose no harm to humans.
• One report’s claim that they rank among Britain’s six largest spider species remains unverified outside of that single source.