Walnut Orb Weaver Spider UK

Spotted this Walnut Orb Weaver (Nuctenea umbratica) Spider just sitting on a house wall. It's a real beauty. This picture was taken in the UK (Birmingham to be exact) at night using an artificial light (phone torch).
 

I don't know where this spider is native to, but I've never seen one in person like this before. I'm not sure whether they carry venom, however, on Wikipedia it says, and I quote "As with all orbweavers any bite is of no consequence." So pretty sure its not particularly dangerous.

Pink Wild Dog Rose Plant / Bush

Pink Wild Dog Rose Plant / Bush. Wild Dog Rose bushes come in many colours. They are very pretty. If you don't know what this plant looks like, here are some pictures. This is the Pink variety, and these images were taken in the UK. Dog Roses also grow in the USA.

Close up of one of the flowers from the bush above.

Zebra Spider Pictures UK

Here are some pictures that I recently took of a Zebra Spider. Such an amazing cute little spider. They are widespread in the UK and possess some of the best eyesight out of all the insects. Incredible vision. As you can see from the images, they have eyes that face forward. They also have other smaller eyes which are at the sides of the bigger pair, helping them see to the sides as well. So in some ways their vision is apparently quite similar to a humans. Amazing.

Click any photo to enlarge

Here it looks curiously confused

Their big eyes and the way they look around makes them appear almost human like. Very curious and friendly. Their movement is very jerky / twitchy, and they can jump. Zebra Spiders do jump frequently. This one was jumping all over the place. it even made a few attempts to land on the camera lens a few times.

On one occasion it made the jump and was on the camera lens! I eventually left it alone when it went and hid under the lip of a plant pot. No doubt one of my favourite spiders. You can see more close up pictures of this spider over on another blog - Still Paused.