Britain`s Spiders – A Field Guide (WILDGuides of Britain & Europe, 21)

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Some of the non-web-builders have fascinating behaviours. In the nurseryweb spider ( Pisaura mirabilis), for example, mature males catch a fly before courting. They wrap it in silk and offer it to a prospective partner – a ‘nuptial gift’. While the female is engaged in eating the gift, the male takes the opportunity to mate. There is no easy way to prevent spiders from entering your house. They are harmless and, indeed, may provide a service by ridding you of unwanted flies and other insects.

Plumper, broader, rounder than the garden spider, with four indented dimples on its abdomen, usually outlined with four white spots but very variable. Up to 17mm in length. More usually found in grassland and heaths – webs are stretched between plants with a funnel retreat at one side. The heaviest British spider. Makes webs in long grass and dense shrubs. Bridge orb-weaver ( Larinioides sclopetarius) The bridge orb weaver spider is often found in light areas near water/Credit: Getty A large brown or grey spider with a leg span of up to 8cm. It chevron marked body maybe an impressive 16mm (incl head). It makes an untidy web with tubular retreat behind furniture or loose skirting, but also under logs and in hollow trees – its original habitat. Can scuttle up to 50cm per second. Zebra spider ( Salticus scenicus) The zebra spider uses its four pairs of large eyes to locate prey and its jumping ability to pounce and capture it. The scientific name, Salticus scenius, means 'theatrical jumper'/Credit: Getty They aren't bigger, and there aren't really more of them. What we can say is that because of the weather and our windows and doors remaining open, there are more observations of some of the larger species that enter our homes,' says Hine. Bee L., Oxford, G. & Smith, H. 2020. Britain’s spiders (2 nd edn). WILDGuides. Princeton: Princeton University Press. A guide to all 38 of the British families, focusing on spiders that can be identified in the field. Illustrated with a remarkable collection of photographs, it is designed to be accessible to a wide audience, including those new to spider identification. This book combines information on features that can be seen with the naked eye or a hand lens with additional evidence from webs, egg-sacs, behaviour, phenology, habitats and distributions. Individual accounts cover 404 species - all of Britain’s ‘macro’ spiders and the larger money spiders, with the limitations to field identification clearly explained. Roberts, M. J. 1995. Collins field guide: spiders of Britain and northern Europe. London: HarperCollins. Mike Roberts re-drew all the pedipalps and epigynes and repainted the colour plates for this single-volume field guide. The species coverage differs from the “Big Roberts” in that a small number of additional species from the adjacent continent are also described. Only a relatively few Linyphiidae or money spiders species (around 40) with a distinctive abdominal pattern, some of which can be recognised using a hand lens, are included.Spider sightings always peak in the autumn when the males of many species reach adulthood and wander about looking for females, he says. A warm and dry autumn provides a longer season for many of the male spiders, who will roam around for longer rather than finding a dry garage or attic to hide in when it's wet. Spiders are more visible in autumn because most of them are looking for a mate, having reached full maturity towards the end of their commonly one-year life cycles. Warm weather contributes to more spider sightings, but this doesn't necessarily mean more spiders, says Hine, who spent many years dealing with the Museum’s spider identification requests.

Hillyard, P. D. 2005. Harvestmen. Synopses of the British Fauna. Shrewsbury: Field Studies Council. This excellent summary of our harvestman fauna provides accounts of the structure and biology of our 25 species together with easy-to-use illustrated keys and distribution maps. Identifying spiders can often be difficult, as they are very small, elusive, and many species resemble one another. The colouration and pattern of a spider can be a useful way to identify them, as well as other key features such as the structure of their webs. In some cases, it is necessary to take a closer look at the genitalia under a microscope, as this can be the only way to confidently identify certain species. You can also use your location as a clue, as some species are more likely to be found in certain parts of the UK. Spiders are also unique in the way they travel and disperse. They do this by ‘ballooning’ – aerial dispersal through the spinning of silk which is caught up by rising air currents on warm days following cold weather. The spider positions itself at a high point, such as the top of a grass stem or a fence post, so that it is exposed to air currents and spins strands of silk from its spinnerets at the tip of the abdomen. Some of this silk may be caught up in the breeze and the spider ‘takes off’. Adult money spiders are light enough to be carried for some distance, in other families of larger spiders it is the immature stages (spiderlings) that balloon. Ballooning was noted by Charles Darwin when he observed silken threads in the rigging of HMS Beagle when some 60 miles off the Argentinian coast – ‘I repeatedly observed the same kind of small spider, either when placed or having crawled on some little eminence, elevate its abdomen, send forth a thread, and then sail away horizontally, but with a rapidity which was quite unaccountable.’ It also explains why some of the first organisms recorded on a newly emerged volcanic island, such as Anak Krakatau, are spiders ballooning in from the nearest mainland.There are 650 species of spider in the UK. What species of spider are found in the UK? Garden or diadem spider ( Araneus diadematus) Although commonly known as the 'garden' spider, the diadem spider can be found almost everywhere in Britain/Credit: Getty False widows attract attention as being one of the few British spiders capable of delivering a venomous bite. However, they will only do so if they are trapped or squashed, often in clothing. One spider that benefits from good summer weather is the European garden spider, Araneus diadematus, also known as the garden orb-weaver or cross spider. People often spot the females sitting in the middle of their large webs in gardens or across doors and windows. This well-illustrated guide includes all of the 34 families known to occur in Britain. Two identification keys are presented. The first uses morphological characters that are visible under low-power magnification; the second key, a tabular guide, includes a range of behavioural and ecological characters. Sections on spider morphology, biology, ecology and a glossary are also provided.

Large house spider ( Tegenaria species) males start to move around seeking out more sedentary females. Although more commonly seen inside houses, they live perfectly happily outdoors too. Earlier in the year zebra spiders ( Salticus scenicus) lurk on sunny fences and walls. These are jumping spiders that leap on their prey rather than ensnaring them in webs. They have excellent binocular vision and can estimate how far away the prey is before pouncing. For example, females of the garden spider ( Araneus diadematus) are very large at this time of year and make conspicuous orb webs among vegetation and on the outside of buildings. Four spot orb-weaver ( Araneus quadratus) The four spot orb weaver spider usually weaves webs between adjacent plants/Credit: GettyJones-Walters, L. M. 1989. Keys to the families of British spiders. AIDGAP. Shrewsbury: Field Studies Council. A very useful key when first starting out with spiders. Placing a spider in the correct family from general appearance becomes easier with experience, but is an essential first step in naming the species. False widow spider bites have been a hot topic in recent years, along with reports of bumper crops of house and garden spiders, and news that city spiders are getting fatter. Spider season: looking for love It makes me think how hard have we looked for it on our coasts? Have we been looking hard enough?” said Waite, who believes the spider could be more widespread than people think.