Eresus - BAS Website blog - the long read - Ladybird Spider

Oct 6, 2026

The text describes the Ladybird Spider (Eresus sandaliatus) and why it differs from the usual idea of spiders. It explains its habitat on dry British heaths, its long lifespan for a spider, and the life cycle centered on vertical burrows and a long breeding delay. It details the mother’s sealed tent acting as both nursery and tomb, the spiderlings clustering on her back, communal feeding, later conflicts, and the shift to individual burrows.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLifestyle

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time11 min

AccessFree to download

The fall and rise of the Ladybird Spider in Britain - the long read

Habitat and appearance

Spider 'mummies' and early life

Growing up and communal feeding

© Ian Hughes Mature male Ladybird Spider The fall and rise of the Ladybird Spider in Britain – the long read Ian Hughes The spider and its world – can a spider be cute? One of our rarest spider species, the Ladybird Spider (Eresus sandaliatus) is also one of our most colourful… sometimes. In Britain, Ladybird Spiders live on dry heaths, which are often very hot in summer and quite exposed to wind, rain and cold in winter. On these heaths, heathers (Calluna and Erica), up to about kneeheight, are scattered across the seemingly miniature landscape a bit like trees and shrubberies in a park. Beneath and around them, like meadows, are carpets of mosses and lichens. Most of the time, both male and female spiders are a fine satiny grey or black, and furry rather than bristly. Those bristly, fast running and long-legged spiders have a lot to answer for! They give all spiders a bad, disgusting or scary reputation. It makes no sense to me because giraffes, cheetahs, orangutans and flamingos have long legs, and hedgehogs and walruses have bristles. But Ladybird Spiders could hardly be more different whilst still being spiders. They have teddy bear faces (in my opinion), teddy bear fur, comparatively short teddy bear legs – eight of them of course (but who’s counting?) and they don’t do much running around. They live for most of their lives in vertical burrows, which they dig to about the length of your finger, through their 4-year or-so lifespan. In a world where most invertebrates, and many spiders, complete their life cycle in about one year, that is quite a long life. I’m told it is probably the UK’s longest-lived spider. Long life isn’t always an easy thing though. Ladybird Spiders only breed at the end of their life and each female produces one batch of eggs, guarding her young until she dies; her entire life is spent in her web and burrow. That means surviving four years – four hot and/or wet summers, four cold and/or wet winters – woodpeckers, wasps and trampling deer and cattle, before they can breed. In human terms it would be like us having babies when we’re pensioners. It can be risky to wait. Spider ‘mummies’ In mid-summer, a mated female produces 50 or so eggs (very few for a spider), wraps them in silk and seals herself into the low gazebo-like tent she started building as youngster. The tent covers the top of her burrow and protects her from birds whilst acting as a capture web. By sealing the edges, she transforms the tent into a chamber, which serves as her young’s nursery room - and her tomb! When the eggs hatch, her cream-coloured spiderlings quickly scamper onto her back and rest in a cluster; it is really quite cute for a spider although some other spiders do similar things. Occasionally, they leave their group and trundle to Mum’s mouth to feed on a special fluid (I’m going to call it spider-milk) which sort of dribbles from her mouth. This is their baby-food, their ‘good start’ in life. They moult from cream © Ian Hughes Mature female Ladybird Spider © Ian Hughes Ladybird Spider tent amongst heather, moss and lichens through chocolatey brown to satiny-grey/black, becoming speckly little replicas of Mum, and overtime become a little less tolerant of each other, and a little hungrier. Steadily, the idea of eating each other becomes less and less unthinkable. Smaller spiders withdraw a little and keep to their own space, larger siblings become bolder and more intrusive. The playground at my school was a bit like that. The mother’s dribbly ‘spider-milk’, together with her energy, runs out and she dies in the chamber with her young all around her. What a way to grow up is that- locked in a chamber with brothers and sisters who want to eat you and a dribbling mother who’s dribble you drink until she dies? The orphans, now home-owners, spin lots of bluish silk within the nursery-tomb. This probably helps keep them safe from each other. They build climbing frames within the space but al

FAQs

Where do Ladybird Spiders live in Britain?

They live on dry heaths that are hot and exposed in summer, and cold and exposed in winter. Their heathers and surrounding moss and lichen provide the landscape they shelter in.

How does the mother Ladybird Spider care for her eggs and young?

A mated female produces about 50 eggs, wraps them in silk, and seals herself into a low tent above her burrow. The tent functions as a nursery and capture web while the spiderlings hatch and cluster on her back.

Why is the Ladybird Spider’s life cycle described as unusually long?

Most invertebrates and many spiders complete their life cycle in about one year, but Ladybird Spiders live for roughly four years. They breed only at the end of life, making surviving four hot/wet seasons and four cold/wet seasons essential before reproduction.

Oct 6, 2026

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