There are two other rare crab spiders that have never been refound in the Forest or the county. Frank
P. Smith records a single specimen of Philodromus margaritatus from Chingford. This spider has a
broad-bodied and rather flattened shape and this, together with its whitish green and black or grey
colour, gives it a cryptic coloration perfect for its normal habitat on the lichen-covered bark of trees.
Xysticus acerbus, a large brown ground dwelling crab spider, appears to have been taken in Epping
Forest (Locket, Millidge and Merrett, 1974) by O. P.- Cambridge, as Xysticus luctuosus. The
rediscovery of these species in the Forest would be a most exciting event.
Frank P. Smith records Marpissa muscosa from Wanstead Park and several other parts of the Forest.
This attractive and large jumping spider is usually found on the bark of trees or fencing where its
greyish brown colour and lighter markings provides excellent camouflage. It has been recorded from
two other localities in Essex but has not been refound in Epping Forest. Frank P. Smith also records
several specimens of Evarcha arcuata, a rare jumping spider (Salticid) of heathland. Records from
the Colchester area by J. E. Hull in the period 1929, 1931 and 1944 to 1945 seem almost certainly to
be errors, since in one report he clearly describes the male of the much more widespread species E.
falcata. The males of both Evarcha species, like those of most salticids, are handsome spiders with
characteristic patterns and coloured hairs especially round the face.
The wolf spider Alopecosa accentuata was recorded by F. O. Pickard-Cambridge. Although not an
uncommon spider in much of England, it appears to be very rare in Essex. The only modern records
are from a small area of sand dune and two relic heath habitats in N. E. Essex. Males seem to mature
in late autumn and early spring, so it is possible that it has been overlooked despite its relatively large
size. It is typically found in sparsely vegetated areas and this sort of habitat is probably much less
common in the Forest today.
All species of the Theridiid genus Dipoena seem to be uncommon or rare in Britain. Several males
of Dipoena inornata are recorded by Frank P. Smith from a heathy ridge near Loughton. The species
has only been recorded again for Essex when it was found in the Colchester area in 1961 (Parker.
1961) and Grays Chalk Quarry in 1985.
The purse web spider Atypus affinis was found at High Beach in 1919 and later 'observed in a
number of places in the higher parts of the Forest'. This was recorded in The Essex Naturalist between
1920 and 1921 and also referred to in the London Naturalist in 1938. Unfortunately the spider does
not appear to have been rediscovered since, although there does not seem to be any real reason why
it should not still occur. The spider makes a silken tube that extends downwards into the soil as much
as eight or nine inches. The aerial part of the tube often lies on the ground and is so well camouflaged
with little pieces of earth and other debris that it is usually very hard to find. The spider spends its
whole life inside, striking prey through the tube with its chelicerae and then cutting the tube to pull
the victim inside. The tube is then mended. Only the adult male leaves its home in order to go in search
of females. There are two modern localities known in Essex for the purse web spider but both of these
sites were discovered only when adult males in search of females fell into pitfall traps that were in
use to survey the localities.
Virtually no other arachnid records for the Forest seem to have been made or, at least published,
until 1980 when Tony Russell-Smith surveyed a number of parts of the Forest. He found the linyphiid
Lepthyphantes midas to be widespread in old birds nests and squirrel dreys from pollarded Hornbeam
trees. This is an extremely rare spider with few records even in Europe and is thought to be confined
to ancient woodland.
In 1984 and 1985 Colin Plant and the Passmore Edwards Museum Survey Team looked at localities
within the Forest, producing records for spiders and John Bratton, then at the Epping Forest
Conservation Centre, also collected a considerable number of spiders in the course of a survey of
grasslands within the Forest. This work produced a number of new county records and many other
interesting records.
There have also been several field meetings for spiders in recent years held by the London Natural
History Society and the Essex Spider Group and I have myself done quite a lot of work in some parts
of the Forest. Leslie Butler made some records in 1988 which he was kind enough to pass on to me
and David Carr has recently looked at the spiders at Epping Long Green and other areas. Nevertheless
there is undoubtably still much to be done before we can say that we have a thorough knowledge of
the species to be found and it would seem that virtually no ecological work has been carried out on
spiders in the Forest. Little is known about the detailed habits of many species of spider and amateur
naturalists could make an important contribution to our knowledge.
138