Hi, I found this big red spider in my garden (about the size of a 50p coin). It had huge eyes (or at least something that looked like eyes) and there were loads of little spiders around it too. Can someone tell me what spider this is and whether it is dangerous? I live in England so I am not used to seeing such big fat spiders. I have attached images for reference. Many thanks
Ps sorry that the images are not the best of quality, I was too scared to get too close.
It's an orb weaver (family Araneidae); all spiders in this family are harmless to humans. I can't tell for certain which species it might be; one of the commonest species in your area is Araneus diadematus - http://www.uksafari.com/cross.htm
Many thanks for your quick and informative response! I was scared that it may be a spider from the widow family due to the hourglass marking on its belly
