9
NOTABLE SPIDER FINDS THIS YEAR
As part of a national survey of spiders being undertaken by the British Arachnological
Society in conjunction with the Biological Records Centre at Monks Wood, members of
the Essex Spider Group are recording the distribution of spiders in Essex. To date 413
different species are recorded for the county including a new and as yet unnamed
Oonopid spider found by Ray Ruffell north of Colchester.
Ray has continued to find individuals of this strange eight-eyed Oonopid spider (Oonopid
spiders normally have only six eyes) but so far males have eluded capture. A male might
help place this new spider more easily - male spiders have complex palps which are used
in reproduction and their structure is important in their taxonomy and identification.
Field meetings this year targetted gaps in the coverage of the county and we are now very
close to our aim of getting at least 100 species of spider recorded from every 10Km
square. In the course of these meetings we have found some rare spiders.
A handful of specimens of the species of crab spider Philodromus longipalpis have been
found in Britain. The spider has only recently been recognised as occurring in this
country, but David Carr found a handsome female near Dunmow this year, making three
specimens so far found in Essex.Further finds of Philodromus praedatus and
P. collinus show both of these species to be much more widespread than previously
thought. Philodromus praedatus was known in Britain from only a few specimens, but is
now turning out to be widespread on oak.
Field meetings have also produced two records of the Jumping Spider Salticus cingulatus,
which although not nationally rare, has no previous recent records in the county. We have
now found it near Sturmer and near Terling in both cases on wooden fence posts covered
in a layer of lichen. The nationally notable Salticus zebraneus occurs on tree trunks and
this has also turned up in new places this year. At Thorndon Park South it is quite
numerous on the trunks of old Oak and also pine frees. It has been found in several other
new localities including Colchester University Park and Whetmead Nature Reserve at
Witham.
We also found another Jumping Spider, the large impressive Marpissa muscosa on fence
posts near Terling. The only recent record had been from Thorndon Park South where it
was found by Roger Payne several years ago (it is still there - I saw a specimen this year
on a pine trunk). There is an old record of the species occurring on fence palings in the
Wanstead area of Epping Forest, but the spider has never been refound here.
At Sible Hedingham, David Carr found Saloca diceros, which he first recorded for the
county only last year at Little Bendysh Wood. A further record was made by Ray Ruffell
from Rowhedge near Colchester. Males of this little Linyphiid (Money) spider have the
head furnished with a pair of horn-like tufts of hooked bristles.
Peter Harvey