30
The Essex Naturalist
The very local jumping spider Euophrys lanigera was found at Stanway,
Colchester by Ray Ruffell on the 14th April 1995. This spider, like other spiders
found in houses, is probably under-recorded in the county. Sitticus pubescens, a
very local jumping spider usually found on old walls and outbuildings, was found
at Great Bardfield on the 6th May and at Ferry Fields on the 20th June.
One female of the very local Wolf spider Pirata uliginosus was collected at
Curtismill Green on the 24th June 1995. The spider often occurs in drier
habitats than the other Pirata species and is not common in the county.
Ray Ruffell recorded the house spider Tegenaria parietina at Stanway,
Colchester on the 10th October 1995. There are few records for the species in
the county, but like other house spiders it is probably under-recorded and
specimens of any spiders found by members in houses remain welcome and I
would be very pleased to examine any that are sent to me.
A number of specimens of the Nationally Scarce (Notable B) theridiid spider
Achaearanea simulans were collected at Curtismill Green on the 24th June. This
species has turned out to be quite widesptead in the county. The extremely rare
(Nationally Endangered, RDB1) spider Theridion pinastri was also collected from
oak at Curtismill Green on the same occasion. One male was taken by David
Carr and then a female by myself. Very few specimens have ever been taken in
Britain, but a number were taken in 1993 at Lippetts Hill and Leyton Flats in
Epping Forest again by David Carr and myself, and it is therefore of interest that
Curtismill Green is, like the much larger Epping Forest area, a remnant of the
former ancient Waltham Forest. The uncommon Theridion familiare was
collected by David Carr from straw in a chicken hut on Horsey Island on the
8th July.
The Orb-web spider Larinioides patagiatus is very local in Essex, where it has
mainly been found near the coast. It was found in some numbers at Horsey
Island on the 8th July 1995.
The linyphiid (Money spider) Oedothorax agrestis is uncommon in the county,
where it occurs in wet habitats. David Carr took specimens at Pincey Brook on
the 12th February, Abridge on the 19th February and Cobbins Brook on the
26th February 1995. I collected one male in wet vegetation at the edge of
Wormingford Mere on the 7th October. Here I also collected one female
Pelecopsis mengei, a spider usually with a northern distribution in Britain, known
in Essex only from two other nearby sites on the River Stout. Wormingford
Mere is apparently an old glacial mere. Could these records suggest a relic
population from the ice age?
The Nationally Scarce Halorates reprobus was collected at Holliwell Point on
the 11th Match 1995 by David Carr. Although it has been found on a number
of occasions at various points on the Essex coast, usually associated with tidal
debris, it is a species of very restricted European distribution and British
populations are therefore particularly important. Porrhomma campbelli recorded