Wildlife in Portugal: Garden Orbweaver – Araneus Diadematus or A. Pallidus?

This week, I was scooping up dead leaves and cuttings from my tomato plants to put in a bag for disposal. Without thinking, I removed my gloves to better photograph the blight-infected leaves. I was uncurling one of the leaves to frame the picture when I saw it move, and this thing that looked like an alien life form crawled out. Oh boy, did I scream! Did you hear me scream?

My friend tells me spiders can hear. Really – who knew? I’ve probably deafened the poor little critter.

I immediately posted a picture to the Wildlife in Portugal FB group and its identity was confirmed as a Garden orbweaver – Araneus diadematus or A. pallidus.

Look at its spiky legs! Have you ever seen such a weird spider?

Trigger warning: Studying all the different spiders before going to bed is not a good idea. https://birdwatchinghq.com/spiders-of-portugal/