2nd year for Dicranopalpus in my garden.

[Geoff F]

Just seen a Dicranopalpus ramosus on the outside of my house. Saw one last year and wondered if it was just one stray animal. But they must have breed and survived the winter OK.

I'll have to keep a look out and try to see how many are around.

[Action_Man]

Thats nice, i only saw one in my garden last year, which was female, but as yet i havent seen any this year .

These are what i have seen this year so far (in my garden).
L. rotundum (plenty)
L. blackwalli (scarce)
N. gothica (plenty)
O. tridens (scarce)
O. canestrinii (scarce)

Not bad considering its only 20` x 30` ...

[Meta menardi]

Originally Posted by Geoff F

Just seen a Dicranopalpus ramosus on the outside of my house. Saw one last year and wondered if it was just one stray animal. But they must have breed and survived the winter OK.

I'll have to keep a look out and try to see how many are around.

They have spread so much, I wouldn't be surprised to see the anywhere. Wether they survive hard winters remains to be seen. I have recorded them in Arnside, last year in September. They are such a strange sight. One male, one female, and it is not an external image.

[Action_Man]

I found one last year in December, in sub-zero temperature, and it looked reasonably happy ...

[Geoff F]

Seen plenty of Rilaena triangularis this spring in a wide variety of habitats and just beginning to see Leiobunum rotundum.

But what about this for nerve. I was photographing some dragonflies recently when I found this individual trying to smuggle itself inside my camera bag!



I'ts an awkward angle but I think it looks like Rilaena triangularis again. Only got the one quick photo because once discovered it ran off into the grass.

[Meta menardi]

Originally Posted by Geoff F

Seen plenty of Rilaena triangularis this spring in a wide variety of habitats and just beginning to see Leiobunum rotundum.

But what about this for nerve. I was photographing some dragonflies recently when I found this individual trying to smuggle itself inside my camera bag!


I'ts an awkward angle but I think it looks like Rilaena triangularis again. Only got the one quick photo because once discovered it ran off into the grass.

Probably took your spare batteries too!

[Geoff F]

I think it was probably the smell of a pack of chocolate biscuits that proved irrestible.

Additional today. In my garden, what I think is my first Phalangium opilio this year. Not totally sure yet until I have a better look at the photos which were, once again, from an imperfect angle and the dark median band does get very wide in the middle but it has very spiny femora so this is probably correct.

Also pleased to see today, that Heliophanus cupreus has reappeared in my greenhouse for the 2nd year.

[thes3raph1m]

ooh i had one in my bathroom (i live around the birmingham area) i dunno their distribution... but im glad i got it ID'd now

thinking on it... ive seen quite a few like that before.

[Geoff F]

They originated in N. Africa and were first recorded in the UK around the 1930s. Since then they have been steadily advancing northwards but identification is patchy; although a lot of this is probably partially due to poor reporting.

For instance, I mentioned my sighting to the local recorders as an aside while asking for confirmation on an uncommon hoverfly, and they said that they only had one previous Dicranopalpus recording in the whole of Devon and that was 50 miles away. Although there are more records for Cornwall.

[Action_Man]

I think they have spread across the whole of the UK.
NBN Gateway: Dicranopalpus ramosus grid map

I dont see them very often, but i have seen a few in my area ...