Blackwater, Norfolk Garden cross spiders must be among September’s most beautiful stars

At present it’s almost impossible to walk the rides around my patch and not snap spiders’ silk. It is everywhere. I notice, as I drive over, that there are even webs on both wing mirrors but, with the sun at the right angle, you can see that there is barely a twig or leaf not bound with gossamer to its neighbours.

Apparently those threads are, gram for gram, five times stronger than steel. Yet what strikes me most is not the strength but the elasticity of spider’s web. A female garden cross spider had just snared a honeybee (an unusual prey at Blackwater, although wasps are commonplace) and while the victim whirred its wings or pulsed its abdomen to break free, the web yawed but held true.

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Source: Guardian Environment