Some interesting spider records for 1999-2000
Adults mature in late summer, with females living on until October. The large urn-shaped egg cocoon
is positioned in the higher levels of vegetation and the eggs overwinter, hatching out in the following
spring. Like other grassland orb-web spiders it favours sites where there is a lack of regular grassland
management and a tall open vegetation with varied grassland structure.
References
CARR, D. & HARVEY, R (1996) Further records of Theridion pinastri L.Koch, 1872 from Essex. Newsl.
Br. Arachnol. Soc. 75: 4.
COOKE, J.A.L. (1962) A preliminary account of the spiders of the Flatford Mill region, East Suffolk.
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 12 (3): 155-176.
HARVEY. P. (1998a) A remarkable lumping spider found in Essex and the imminent loss of another
important site in the East Thames Corridor. Essex Field Club Newsletter 26: 14.
HARVEY, P.R. (1998b) Some interesting spider records for 1997 and 1998. Essex Naturalist 15 (New
series): 45-46.
HARVEY, P.R. (1999a) Zodarion rubidum Simon, 1914 (Araneae: Zodariidae), a spider new to Britain and
Essex. Essex Naturalist 16 (New series): 29.
HARVEY, P.R. (1999b) Notes on Essex specialities 2: the spider Zodarion italicum (Canestrini, 1868)
(Araneae: Zodariidae). Essex Naturalist 16 (New series): 73-74.
HARVEY, P.R (2000) An update on the expansion in range of Argiope bruennichi. Essex Field Club
Newsletter 31: 13-14.
LOCKET, GH. & MILLIDGE, AF. (1951) British Spiders. Vol. 1. The Ray Society, London.
MERRETT, P. (1979) Changes in distribution of British spiders, and recent advances in knowledge of
distribution. Br. Arachnol. Soc. Bull. 4 (8): 366-376.
ROBERTS (1995) Spiders of Britain & Northern Europe. HarperCollins Publishers, London.
RUFFELL, R. (1997) Argiope bruennichi in Essex. Spider Recording Scheme Newsletter 29: 4-5.
RUFFELL, R. (2001) The mystery of a mouse spider. Essex Field Club Newsletter 35: X-X.
SMITHERS, P. (1992) Argiope bruennichi in the South West. Spider Recording Scheme Newsletter 14: 2.
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Essex Naturalist (New Series) 18 (2001)