Females commonly about 11–15 mm; males are slimmer.
Fine-art photographic collection
Pisaura mirabilis
A spider courtship in which males offer wrapped prey, fake death and sometimes attempt an empty-package scam.
About this species
European Nursery Web Spider
Pisaura mirabilis(Clerck, 1757)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Pisaura mirabilis is an active hunting spider of vegetation and grassland. Males commonly present prey wrapped in silk during courtship, while females later carry the egg sac and guard spiderlings inside a nursery web.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Araneae · Pisauridae · Pisaura
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
Europe, North Africa and temperate AsiaBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Europe, North Africa and temperate Asia
Meadows, marsh edges, dunes, hedges and low vegetation.
Diurnal and crepuscular hunter.
Insects and other small arthropods.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
A courting male presents a silk-wrapped insect; while the female eats, he mates, and larger edible gifts can prolong copulation.
Some males feign death while gripping the gift and suddenly revive when the female begins dragging both prey and apparently lifeless suitor away.
After mating, the female carries the egg sac in her jaws, then suspends it inside a silk nursery and stands guard over the emerging young.