48 The Essex Naturalist
I learnt the species had heen photographed by J. Tyler in North Essex at the edge
of a field at Alphamstone on 18th August. Ray Ruffell subsequently searched the
area and found four more females in an uncut area in the middle of a field. In the
light of this confirmed occurrence in north Essex, the previous report from
Basildon can almost certainly be accepted but the species has previously only
been known within a few miles of the south coast of England - so what is this
spider doing turning up so far from its previous range, and in both the very north
and very south of the county? If the species is spreading and this another possible
example of global warming affecting southern England it will presumably turn up
in sites between the south coast and Essex! In its known localities the spider
occurs in rough grassland, waste ground, roadside verges, disused railway lines,
coastal chalk grassland and the upper end of saltmarshes (Merrett, 1990) so there
seems to be plenty of scope for a future increase in Essex! Keep your eyes open!
Money spiders (Family Linyphiidae)
A number of rare and local money spiders have been recorded. Oedothorax
agrestis is rare in Essex but recent years have shown the species to be more
widespread than previously thought, even though when found it is often
confined to very small specific habitat areas. David Carr and myself recorded
single females at Tilty and Bran End in June and November 1996. The very
local Ceratinopsis stativa is a spider of old grasslands. We have recorded it from
two new sites at Boxted taken by Ray Ruffell in late June/July 1996 and at
Aubrey Buxton N.R. taken by David Carr and myself on 7th June 1997. The
Nationally Scarce Saloca diceros is a tiny spider of wet fens and marshes. David
Carr took a male in a spring-fed marsh near Good Easter on 30th November
1996. The Nationally Scarce (Notable A) Meioneta simplicitarsis seems to be
widespread along the East Thames Corridor in Essex occurring on grazing marsh
grasslands. Four males and one female were taken in June/July 1997 at Goshams
Farm near the river between Tilbury and East Tilbury. David Carr recorded one
female and several immatures of the Nationally Vulnerable (RDB2)
Lepthyphantes midas in a beech rot-hole at Long Running in Epping Forest on
5th June 1996. The spider is only known from four ancient forest or parkland
sites (Bratton 1991). This is the first Essex record since the species was recorded
in Epping Forest by Tony Russell-Smith in 1980 despite various searches to
locate it elsewhere in the county.
References
Bratton, J. H., 1991. British Red Data Books: 3. Invertebrates other than insects. JNCC.
Harvey, P. R., 1996. Some interesting spider records for 1995. Essex Naturalist 13 (New series):
28-31.
Harvey, P. & Murphy, J., 1985. Zodarion italicum (Araneae: Zodariidae), a species newly
recorded in Britain. Newsletter of the British Arachnological Society 44: 4.
Marriot, D., 1997. Zodarion italicum discovered in Hertfordshire. Spider Recording Scheme
Newsletter 28: 4.
Merrett, P., 1990. A Review of the Nationally Notable Spiders of Great Britain. No 127.
Nature Conservancy Council.