Araneus diadematus - or cross orbweaver

Almost fluorescent yellow with a single round black blob on their backs, the spiders are the produce of the common Araneus diadematus - or cross orbweaver - species, which lays anywhere from 300 to 800 eggs each autumn.

The mothering spider then cements her minuscule eggs together by covering them in a dense layer of coarse protective yellow silk and detritus - fragments of dead organisms and fecal matter - to protect them over the winter until they hatch in spring and early summer.