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CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NEXT NEWSLETTER
Please send contributions for the next Newsletter, due out in
August, to the Editor, Mr Peter Harvey, 9 Kent Road, Grays,
RM17 6DE by the end of the second week of July.
A NEW RECORD OF THE THERIDIID SPIDER Achaearanea tepidariorum
John Keeliher has sent me an adult female spider from a bay window in his house at
Shoeburyness which was clearly an Achaearanea species. These make typical Theridiid
scaffold webs and are capable of capturing quite fearsome prey, such as the large female
of the house spider Tegenaria gigantea that was found in its web. The spider seemed to
be very pale and to have an unusual female epigyne, so I sent it to John Murphy, an expert
in european and world spiders for his opinion. He has determined it as Achaearanea
tepidariorum, the first record of this species in Essex since its occurrence was noted by F.
P. Smith in his series on "The Spiders of Epping Forest" published in the Essex Naturalist
between 1901-4. This old record was from the long since abandoned Pauls Nursery near
High Beach in Epping Forest. The spider is usually associated with houses and
greenhouses, unlike its smaller close relative Achaearanea simulans a nationally notable
species that has turned out to be quite widespread in scrub and woodland habitats in
Essex
Peter Harvey
TWO ESSEX COAST PROTECTION AREAS
The Minister of Agriculture has announced the launch of the Essex Coast E.S.A.
(Environmentally Sensitive Area). This stretches from the south bank of the Stour at
Mistley around the coast and estuaries to finish near Mucking in the south of the county.
The only large areas of undeveloped land not included are the Dengie Hundred and
Wallasea Island.
The aim of the scheme is to support the traditional farming methods that have helped
form the landscape and wildlife habitats of the coastal marshes. Payments will be made
for retaining existing grassland, recreating wetlands and marshlands and for returning
arable land to marshland. Entry into the scheme is for ten years although there is an
option to terminate after five years. Hopefully this scheme will be more successful for
wildlife habitat creation than short term schemes such as set-aside.
In addition 2,100 hectares of mudflats and saltmarshes at Benfleet and Southend east of
Canvey have received Special Protection Area designation from the Environment
Minister Robert Atkins. The site is of international importance for wading birds such as
Brent geese, Grey plover and Knot during the winter. Despite past development
proposals for this area, the whole of the intertidal foreshore is now hopefully protected.