Found this spider at work in the Leicestershire area of the United Kingdom. Never seen one with this kind of pattern on its back before so was curious as to what it is. (Size: 2-2.5 inches)
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$\begingroup$ Please update with approximate size of your specimen. $\endgroup$– theforestecologist ♦Dec 12, 2018 at 22:39
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$\begingroup$ Appears to be some species of Araneus (orb weaver) $\endgroup$– theforestecologist ♦Dec 12, 2018 at 22:40
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$\begingroup$ It was probaly around 2inches maybe 2 and a half $\endgroup$– LUKEDec 15, 2018 at 7:19
1 Answer
The depicted spider appears to be a European garden spider Araneus diadematus. The mottling pattern that forms a cross shape is probably one of the more distinctive features, giving these the nickname cross spiders. The distribution for your locale makes sense, based on data collected on these spp: http://srs.britishspiders.org.uk/portal.php/p/summary/s/Araneus+diadematus