[1] Male E. sandaliatus are generally 6 to 9 millimetres (0.24 to 0.35 in) (a little bit smaller than other species of the E. cinnaberinus complex) and characterized by a bright orange back featuring four large and two small ebony spots.

Males enter the adult stage in early September, but overwinter in their webs and search for females only in May or June of the next year.

[3] It is classified as endangered by the British Red Data Book and hence protected under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act.

In 2000, however, over 600 separate ladybird spiders were counted, probably owing to the efforts of English Nature's Species Recovery Programme and affiliated operations.

It is currently the focus of a Back from the Brink conservation project, which aims to translocate spiders to start new populations.