Spiders can build their webs in several different ways depending upon the species, but for most people a true spider’s web will always be one of the elegant, circular, so- called orb webs, as spun by, for instance, the Common garden spider.

Zygiella x-notata is a smaller orb-web spider which is very common in the house, sometimes building its web in a window. The spider itself varies somewhat in pat- tern and coloration, but normally it is grey-brown with a greyish pattern on its abdomen.

In the circular web it is characteristic that a section is missing, .and in this area the spider draws out a thread which leads to its hiding-place. This thread acts as a signal line.

The eggs are laid in a silk cocoon, sometimes in a corner. The cocoon, holding about fifty eggs, is flat on the side near the substrate, while the outer side is slightly arched. It is often covered with a dense tangle of white threads.