Spiders & Harvestmen

Click on an IMAGE below to find out more Want to know more about Spider Anatomy

Spider Anatomy To Check the entire British Species List click on this link for taxonomy British Species List

To visit other sites for more information click on this to go to Links at the bottom of this page

Thanks to Ian Dawson for taxonomic comments (below) Brish Arachnological Society BAS

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Araneidae      Garden Spider (Aranues diadematus)	House Spider (Tegenaria spp)	Araneidae    Metellina segmentata / mengei
Xysticus lanio	Ozyptila sanctuaria & O. atomaria	Philodromus margaritatus
Philodromus phallax Tibellus oblongus	Clubiona trivialis Clubiona phragmitis	Agroeca proxima Liocranum rupicola
Cryphoeca silvicola Hasarius adansoni	Salticus scenicus Sitticus pubescens Alopecosa cuneata	Xerolycosa miniata Pirata piscatorius
Crustulina sticta Meta menardi	Lepthyphantes leprosus	Lathys humilis
Salticidae Zebra Spider Salticus scenicus	Mystery31	Salticidae   A jumping Spider Evarcha falcate
Tetragnathidae   Tetragnatha extensa	Araneidae    Cucumber Green Spider Araniella cucurbitina	Araneidae    Larinioides sclopetarius Bridge Spider
Araneidae  Araneus quadratus 4-Spot Orb Weaver	Araneidae    Larinioides cornutus	Araneidae Araneus diameatus Garden Spider
Linyphiidae Linyphia triangularis	Amaurobiidae Coelotes atropos	Pisauridae  Raft Spider Dolomedes fimbratus
Araneidae Gibbaranea gibbosa	Araneidae Walnut Orb-Weaver Spider Nuctenea umbratica
Dictyna	Pisauridae Nursery Web Spider Pisaura mirabilis	Araneidae Evarcha falcata
Theridiidae Theridion sisyphium	Thomisidae Xysticus cristatus	Philodromidae Philodromus cespitum
Theridiidae Neottiura bimaculata	Agelenidae Textrix denticulata	Lycosidae Trochosa terricola
Theridiidae False Widow Spider Steatoda nobilis	Thomisidae Misumena vatia	Araneidae Wasp Spider Argiope bruennichi

HARVESTMEN (OPILIONES)

Platybunus triangularis	Platybunus pinetorum	Mitopus morio
Opilio canestrinii	Opilio parietus	Paroligolophus agrestis
Paroligolophus agrestis	Dicranopalpus ramosus	Leiobunum rotundum
	Nemastoma bimaculatum

 

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Agroeca proxima

Alopecosa cuneata

Araneus diadematus

B

C

Clubiona phragmitis

Coelotes atropos

Clubiona trivialis

Crustulina sticta

Cryphoeca silvicola

D

Dictyna uncinata

E

F

G

Garden Spider

H

Hasarius adansoni

House Spider

I

J

K

L

Lathys humilis

Larinioides cornutus

Larinioides sclopetarius

Lepthyphantes leprosus

Liocranum rupicola

M

Meta segmentata

Money Spider

N

O

Ozyptila atomaria

Ozyptila sanctuaria

P

Philodromus margaritatus

Pisaura mirabilis

Pirata piscatorius

Q

R

S

Salticus scenicus

Sitticus pubescens

T

Tegenaria sp.

Tetragnatha extensa

Textrix denticulata

Tibellus oblongus

Theridion sisyphium

U

V

W

Wolf Spiders

X

Xerolycosa miniata

Xysticus lanio

Xysticus cristatus

Y

Z

Zebra Spider

NOTES ON TAXONOMIC CHANGES

House spider Tegenaria sp.
Metellina sp.
Oxyptila spp. This is the former spelling of the genus which is now spelt Ozyptila, with a z
Philodromus levipes is now known as Philodromus margaritatus
Philodromus fallax
Tibellus parallelus is now known as Tibellus oblongus
Agroeca proxima
Liocranum rupicola
Cryphoeca silvicola
Tarantula cuneata now known as Alopecosa cuneata
Pirata umbraticola now known as Pirata piscatorius
All are British native species except for Hasarius adansoni which only occurs rarely in hothouses, e.g. at the Eden Project. However, several are uncommon or very uncommon spiders, e.g. Philodromus margaritatus, Liocranum rupicola.

 

Spiders Useful Links

Nick Siders an enthusiastic site with lotts of Info and good imaging Nicks Spiders

Nicks Classification of Orders Lots of picture Orders and Classification

British Arachnology Society BAS

A Yahoo Interactive Forum On Spiders Yahoo Spiders

Araneae, Spiders of North-West Europe SNWE

As above easy access SNWE

Arachnology (Orders Section Good) : The Study of arachnids by Herman Vanuytven Arachnology

Biology of the Salticid Spiders BSS

A general page of Spider info Spider Info

Biol Images Spider Identification /ALL things natural Biol Images

Water Spiders

Several species of spiders can be found in, on and around water but only one habitually lives in water.

The Water Spider, (Argyroneta aquatica)

If you are lucky enough, this lovely spider can be found in fresh water where there is little or no water flow and at any time of the year. Beneath the water surface it spins an inverted silken retreat. At the surface, it traps air in the fine hairs on its body, submerges, and scrapes the air off into the silken retreat. After a number of trips to the surface, it is able to fill the retreat with air and form a 'diving bell'. Once filled, the oxygen levels in the bell remain stable as oxygen produced by green plants diffuses into it from the surrounding water.

Water spiders are excellent swimmers. During the day they rest within the bell, facing down and looking out of the entrance. Should suitable prey pass by they rush out and catch it then return to the bell or to the surface to feed.

Females lay their eggs within the bell in late spring and early summer. These hatch and the spiderlings can be found at the surface walking amongst water plants. In late autumn, the spiders dive deep to avoid being trapped in ice. Here they build a stronger retreat that they fill with air and then seal themselves inside until the weather warms in early spring.

Of all our spiders, this is one that can and will bite if mis-handled (see spider bites). The bite is painful, not unlike a bee sting.

Coastal Wolf Spider, (Pardosa purbeckensis)

The wolf spider Lycosa purbeckensis can be seen running about on salt marshes and mud flats when the tide is out. As the tide comes in, they either stay at the base of the plants or walk down the stem and deliberately submerge themselves, taking a bubble of air trapped on the dense hairs on the abdomen. Hanging on to the submerged plant, they are able to breath, using the layer of air trapped in the hairs

Raft Spiders or Swamp Spiders, (Dolomedes species)

Two species of Raft Spider occur in Britain, Dolomedes fimbriatus and the rare and endangered Dolomedes plantarius.

Dolomedes fimbriatus is one of our largest and a most handsome spider, measuring up to 22mm. They are quite capable of taking large prey like damselflies and even small fish. When hunting, they stand on a piece of vegetation with their front legs resting on the surface of the water. When prey comes in range, they dash across the water and grasp it, or even dip down below the surface to catch it. If disturbed, Dolomedes will run down a water plant and dive beneath the surface, hiding there until the danger has passed.

 

 

Collins Field Guide: Spiders of Britain and Northern Europe by Michael J. Roberts. 450 species illustrated by colour plates and drawings; published by Harper Collins, 1995

The Country Life Guide to spiders of Britain and Northern Europe by Dick Jones. 350 species illustrated by photographs - an excellent accompaniment to the Collins Guide; published by Country Life Books/Hamlyn, 1983T

he Spiders of Great Britain and Ireland by Michael J.Roberts. Vols I, II, 1985, III 1987. Lavishly produced three-volume work; published by Harley Books

The Spiders of Great Britain and Ireland Compact Edition, by Michael J.Roberts, published by Harley Books, 1993

British Spiders by G.H.Locket and A.F.Millidge. Vol I 1951, Vol II 1953, published by Ray Society of London.

British Spiders by G.H.Locket, A.F.Millidge and P.Merrett. Vol III 1974, published by Ray Society of London.

Keys to Families of British Spiders by L.M.Jones-Walters, AIDGAP Guide, Field Studies Council No. 197, published by the Field Studies Council, 1989.
House and Garden Spiders by L.Bee & R.Lewington, a foldout sheet published by Field Studies Council, OP69, 2002