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Insect ID

peteSpeteS Posts: 966
in Plants
Can anyone ID these strange miniscule critters. There are dozens of 'em living together on a web. I've never seen them before, so it would be useful to find out if they are friend or foe.
Many thanks. 
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Posts

  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    They could be babies, newly hatched spiders of some sort.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • ShepsSheps Posts: 2,236
    Maybe Garden Spider.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    That’s what I thought too @Busy-Lizzie 🕷 

    @peteS  …. can you count their legs?  Are there 6 or 8?



    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • peteSpeteS Posts: 966
    You're quite right @Busy-Lizzie...I've just done some very rapid research to find out if they were little nasties or not, and it turns out they are harmless, newly hatched garden spiders (assuming my research is correct of course), I've just never seen them in such numbers before. 
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
     :) 
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Awwwh! 🥰 A spider nursery … an arachnid-garten … sweet 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,906
    Definitely spiderlings @peteS. Here is a picture I took in my greenhouse a few years back. They are so cute:

    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • Papi JoPapi Jo Posts: 4,254
    Took this video 2 years ago in the garden:
    https://youtu.be/4tuwRvjKeC0
  • Alan Clark2 in LiverpoolAlan Clark2 in Liverpool Posts: 2,190
    They are Araneus diadematus, the European Garden Spider. they will disperse in a day or two.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araneus_diadematus
  • alexryzawlskiqBU-X4OFalexryzawlskiqBU-X4OF Posts: 163
    I had a similar thing recently too. They're harmless although when they grow to full size they get pretty big and chunky! Makes me wonder how they stay on their webs. Shows how strong spider silk is.
    Happy Gardening
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