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01-08-2009, 09:47 PM
|  | Moderator | | Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Belvedere, Kent
Posts: 10,029
| | | Agelena labyrinthica?
Saw loads of these at Thursley Common today. Neil (Ukwildlifeo) called them Labyrinth spiders and I think I've tracked them down as Agelena labyrinthica. My only slight doubt is that they look nothing like the illustration in the Michael Roberst field guide.  
About 2 to 2.5 cm long with a very distinctive web that it lurks in the funnel of...  
Thanks in advance.
Dave P.
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01-08-2009, 10:04 PM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Cheshire and North Wales
Posts: 1,125
| | | Re: Agelena labyrinthica?
Yes, Agelena labyrinthica - nice photo's, you did well to get a close up of one those as they are so nervous and quick.
No.9 Spider 
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02-08-2009, 04:28 PM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: North Yorkshire
Posts: 2,983
| | | Re: Agelena labyrinthica?
Quote:
Originally Posted by No.9 Spider  Yes, Agelena labyrinthica - nice photo's, you did well to get a close up of one those as they are so nervous and quick.
No.9 Spider | I think all I have ever seen is a back leg.
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02-08-2009, 06:18 PM
| | Moderator | | Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Belvedere, Kent
Posts: 10,029
| | | Re: Agelena labyrinthica?
Many thanks for confirming the ID.
These spiders were everywhere at Thursley this weekend and some of them were quite confiding. One (the first two photos) came completely out of its web and just sat on the heather happily while we took shots of it. Jules (Wild-Woman) was using a Panasonic with a Raynox lens about an inch away from it and it just watched her impassively.
Neil (Ukwildlifeo) showed us how to tickle the web with the seed end of a grass stem and tempt them out to see what it was.
Here's a couple more shots from today...  
Thanks again,
Dave P.
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(a.k.a. "Horizontal Dave")
"A good man is hard to find, especially if he's hiding. In a field. With combat fatigues and a false beard." - Wilson Dixon |
02-08-2009, 06:53 PM
| | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: S. Devon
Posts: 3,900
| | | Re: Agelena labyrinthica?
My attempts at 'tickling the web' only sends them deeper into their silken cave. Perhaps I should try a longer and lighter 'tickling stick'.
Did photograph a pair together in the web recently (still waiting to be edited) which I assumed to be male and female. Apparently, these are some of the few spiders which enjoy something of a 'family life' for a short period. |
02-08-2009, 08:51 PM
| | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: S. Devon
Posts: 3,900
| | | Re: Agelena labyrinthica?
OK, I have down a bit of edit queue jumping and this is what I take to be a pair.  |
05-08-2009, 07:53 AM
| | Moderator | | Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Belvedere, Kent
Posts: 10,029
| | | Re: Agelena labyrinthica?
Great shot Geoff! They really are beautiful little beasties...
Dave P.
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(a.k.a. "Horizontal Dave")
"A good man is hard to find, especially if he's hiding. In a field. With combat fatigues and a false beard." - Wilson Dixon |
05-08-2009, 09:07 AM
| | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Cheshire and North Wales
Posts: 1,125
| | | Re: Agelena labyrinthica?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoff F OK, I have down a bit of edit queue jumping and this is what I take to be a pair. | Excellent shot, and not just a pair, they are in the process of mating. You can see an inflated palpal bulb in the bottom of the shot just behind one of her legs.
Observations like this always add to our knowledge. If the technique used by Agelena sp. in mating wasn't previously known, then we would now from this photograph.
No.9 Spider
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Last edited by No.9 Spider; 05-08-2009 at 09:12 AM.
|
05-08-2009, 06:50 PM
| | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: S. Devon
Posts: 3,900
| | | Re: Agelena labyrinthica?
I hadn't noticed that. Thanks for pointing it out.
Does this mean I am now a porn photographer! That would look good on my CV. |
05-08-2009, 09:15 PM
|  | Active Member | | Join Date: May 2009 Location: Dorset
Posts: 38
| | | Re: Agelena labyrinthica?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoff F I hadn't noticed that. Thanks for pointing it out.
Does this mean I am now a porn photographer! That would look good on my CV. | I've seen common garden spiders mating before, but never anything like this! This is a wonderful shot, the kind most wildlife photographers dream of. | | | |
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