 
House SpiderSaturday 19th August 2000, West Yorkshire
 A HOUSE SPIDER has made it's web in a corner of the skirting board in the kitchen. This spider, Tegenaria domestica, one of the largest found in Europe, doesn't spin a neat orb web; it's web isn't even sticky, it's a triangular mass of fine threads. As I take a closer look, a tiny gnat blunders into the web and gets tangled. The spider dashes out and grabs this tiny meal 'nibbling' it in its mouthparts.
The tall False Oat by the pond has gone to seed, as has the finer grass (Creeping Bent-grass?) growing around it. The seedpods of the Broad-leaved Willowherb have burst open, and curled back like springs, releasing the downy seeds.I've sketched this with a Rotring Art Pen, a fountain pen with an extra fine sketch nib, in brown water soluble ink. I've then dabbed on clean water with a brush to get the wash effect.  I also sketch this small variety of Forget-me-not which grows as a weed in our garden. I've drawn it rather larger than life because the flowers are so tiny. It may be Field Forget-me-not.Related LinkArachnophiliac; more on the House Spider . . . and Tarantulas, Scorpions, Snakes and Snails.
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