Tylan Berry

For those of you that are also present elsewhere 👇🏻 We intend to remain here on X / Twitter as well, at least whilst there remains interest in arachnids and our posts

@BritishSpiders Getting down and dirty, and absolutely soaking wet during the winter is a brilliant way to find things that you'd normally miss!

It’s worth emphasising that even in November one can make new discoveries & expand our knowledge of the distribution of British spiders! At one time, most British arachnologists were only recording in the warmer months of the year!

Excellent spiders from @CwallWildlife Cabilla NR - new site and hectad for Philodromus margaritatus and Agyneta innotabilis, new site for Hyptiotes paradoxus, and a 25mile hike west for Trematocephalus cristatus - the 2nd Cornish site for it. @BritishSpiders @cofnod @graemelyons

@Tegwyn777 @BritishSpiders @cofnod I think either would be new to Pembrokeshire, a very good find. There's a lot mote to do in the county, I'm always itching to check the woods around Canaston Bridge. I was in Milford last week, unfortunately had no time to escape to do any spidering!

@Tegwyn777 @BritishSpiders @cofnod Looks like every A. sturmi I have ever seen, a darker spider with even darker shoulder marks to the abdomen. Every A. triguttatus I've seen has been quite bright red/orange. Where were the pines?

Microctenonyx subitaneus (Linyphiidae) next to a Trochosa terricola (Lycosidae) pedipalp :)

@Chizz_79 @BritishSpiders Great to see a pic of the live beast!

A new species for me Walckenaeria obtusa, I do not see any records for this in west sussex, an old record in east sussex from the late 60's @BritishSpiders #spiders #arachnid #walckenaeria

@andydouglas1967 Lovely palp shot. They are an impressive Liny!

The biggest Stemonyphantes lineatus I've found, with it's characteristic horse-head palp. This one should be renamed Stemonyphantes size-of-a-horse-eatus I think.

@graemelyons I've seen Choughs pulling their webs out of the ground at the Lizard!

Amazing. My mate Oli found this bird.

What a Genus! Here is the nationally Scarce, Walckenaeria dysderoides first one ive seen in west sussex. @BritishSpiders #spiders #arachnids #uk #walckenaeria

@andydouglas1967 @BritishSpiders I agree with the IDs even though theyre immatures and yes I'd record them as such.

When collecting spiders I always end up taking a lot of immature spiders, and I hate that. So I'm wondering, is it worth recording those that I think I can ID? I already do Mangora, and I think I have here Ero aphana and Simitideon simile? @BritishSpiders

@andydouglas1967 This is C. bicolor for me. The tooth in blue appears as though the end of the paracymbium is folded and pointing back on itself. There's also more going on at the end of the palp in red (scientific term there!!).

@BerryTylan Thanks. This was very small. I'm wondering about my C.bicolor now, I think maybe I should check it. This spider was pale, maybe just moulted. Attached, palp of the bicolor. Is the tooth bottom right or the dark thing, bottom left, of paracybium? Or not there?

Last one for tonight. This is of the genus Centromerita. I'm erring towards C.concinna as I've measured the palp and compared it against the Roberts drawings, and compared some spines on leg IV. I'll do more photos in the morning, just to be sure I think.

@TBeetles @ecology_digest @BritishSpiders Brill, thanks. I saw Z. silvestris amongst a few others that I don't see in the deep southwest when I was there a few years ago.

@BerryTylan @ecology_digest @BritishSpiders It’s a very small patch of heathland enclosed by woods on all sides. Bracken and Bramble dominate and crowd out the heather. Interestingly one of the few known locations for Slowworm in Notts. Zora Sylvestris also found there as well.

@TBeetles @ecology_digest @BritishSpiders Was it the patches of over mature heath there? Or degraded as in poached and overgrazed?

@BerryTylan @ecology_digest @BritishSpiders Clumber Park, mainly degraded, although recovering Heathland.

@arableplants @cofnod @BritishSpiders @NHarnser @chalkspring Very nice indeed. I've seen immatures of this and noted that they appeared more hairy than the G. occidentalis I see here. Yours also seems quite hairy!

This glorious specimen came running over as we knelt in the rain on a shingle spit in May. Confirmed today by @cofnod as Gnaphosa lugbris. A ground spider of epic charisma and proportion! @BritishSpiders @BerryTylan @NHarnser @chalkspring