Unidentified Harvestmans - Bedfordshire

Bruce Williams · #1 (**permalink**) 02-09-2008, 10:20 PM

Stockgrove Country Park, 1st September 2008. On old wooden fence.

Help with identification appreciated.

Bruce

Ooops.....Harvestmans=Harvestman

Pudding4brains · #2 (**permalink**) 03-09-2008, 12:09 PM

Hi Bruce,

Thought I'd posted a reply to this yesterday ... must have done something wrong

I'm still not very confident about Harvestmans at all (I think that's I nice version for the plural

) - the more I see and learn the less I seem to understand

I would have this one down for a Phalangium opilio female, mostly because of the number and size of the tubercles/thorns on the ocularium, but the colours also hint at Mitopus morio

and I still can't seperate the two on 'habitus' as I never seem to find Mitopus myself.

The 'dead give away' between the two are two little tubercles just under the frontal edge of the body in the center just above the chelicera. Your picture has fantastic sharpness and DOF and would certainly show these, but the palps are blocking the view, so have a look at your other pictures to see if you can find them. If they're present it's Phalangium, if absent it's Mitopus.

Cheers!
Arp

P.S. Just a quicky ... here are the tubercles:

Bruce Williams · #3 (**permalink**) 03-09-2008, 05:31 PM

Thanks for all your help with this one Arp - much appreciated as always.

Actually, I was at the point of giving up hope with this thread and had logged in in order to send you a pm in the hope that you'd be able to help....and bingo....there you were!

Well I have checked my other pics of this individual and I do have one that clearly shows the two little tubercles, so I guess that confirms it as a female Phalangium opilio.

Thanks again.
Bruce