Spider for ID please

[pressld2]

The wierdest looking one I've ever seen!

Went over to the garden centre today to get a few winter bedding plants and found this chap on my hand when I was at the checkout. Frantically looked around for something to put him in so I could take him home for some photos but couldn't see anything. Fortunately my wife usually carries some wet wipes in a blue plastic case so we used that. The people in the garden centre thought we were barking!

Anyway, here it is...



The height of the abdomen suggests Achaearanea as does the overall size which was only about 5mm.

Here is the only decent shot I got from above but the height of the abdomen means it's out of focus due to the limited depth of field...



I managed to transfer it to a small shrub for some more natural looking shots which I'll upload to the Gallery if I can get an ID - they don't show any more detail than these. Once in the shrub it hung upside down under a leaf from just a very rudimentary web - not much more than a few strands of silk. It held it's front four legs tight together in front of it, pointing straight out except for the tarsi on the first pair of legs which were bent upwards to hold the silk strands.

It looks very distinctive to me so I'm hoping it might be identifiable without taking a microscope to it's naughty bits!

Dave P.

[Dogghound]

Uloborus walckenaerius

[Jason Green]

Evening Dave,

Nice spider, and I'm glad you got a dorsal too! Seems to be quite rare and found around garden centres. Any further info on range/status, Dan?

Take care,

Jason

[Dogghound]

Yes this is quite a rare species in the UK. Restricted to the Southern Counties. Very Local indeed.

[pressld2]

Thanks both!

I've just read in Collins that it's "Rare and very locally distributed in southern England. Widespread but locally distributed in Europe..."

It'll be a first for the Gallery too when I upload it which I'll do in about an hour or so - got to go and get things ready for the morning now.

Dave P.

[Meta menardi]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

Yes this is quite a rare species in the UK. Restricted to the Southern Counties. Very Local indeed.

Pop down to Manor Road nurseries, Scarborough and they are thick on the ground. I have also found it at Sainsbury's York. They have spread like wildfire and are now very common in garden centres for a long way up North. Name is now Uloborus plumipes.

[pressld2]

Wikipedia says that one of the common names is "Garden centre spider due to its frequent occurrence in garden centers around the world."

These are the best shots I got before losing it in my garden. Under my garden table to start with...



Then in a miniature azalea...



Fascinating little beastie!

Dave P.

[Venger]

2 different species Meta - not a renaming.
U.walckenaerius is rare and locally distributed and U.pulmipes is an import (you usually find them in garden centres - they come in with the plants)

[pressld2]

Thanks Venger. This one is U. plumipes isn't it? Plumipes = feathery legs, which you can see in most of these shots.

Dave P.

[Meta menardi]

Originally Posted by Venger

2 different species Meta - not a renaming.
U.walckenaerius is rare and locally distributed and U.pulmipes is an import (you usually find them in garden centres - they come in with the plants)

You are, of course, right, as I could have found out if I had leant over behind me and looked in the Good Book. I think the specimen here is plumipes.

Fascinating spiders, the Uloborids make an orb web, but this web is made from non-sticky silk (cribellate silk, the sort of scruffy stuff you find in window corners). They also make life more difficult for themselves by not having a venomous bite.

The photos are great, I have some but nothing like the detail you have here.