It was a nice sunny day for a short walk through the woods in Peasmarsh today. The brighter weather brought out quite a number of species of insects and spiders including this attractive little jumping spider Pseudeuophrys lanigera.
While out on the weekly butterfly/dragonfly transect this afternoon I came across several weird looking flies on a gate post. They are called Medetera diadema and belong to the dolichopodidae, also called ‘long-legged flies’ or more often ‘dolis’ by enthusiasts. They are generally small flies with a metallic green colouration and are predatory on other invertebrates (the larvae are either predators or scavengers in aquatic or terrestrial habitats). Truth be told they are a group that I know very little about, with this being one of only two species I can identify with any confidence. They are striking looking flies though, with this genus in particular looking very alien indeed.
Medetera diadema
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I’ve not had much chance to go spider hunting over the last couple of weeks, but I have come across several interesting species in the course of doing other things. One of the highlights was a fat female Sitticus inexpectus on the saltmarsh below Lime Kiln. I’ve mentioned the striking males several time (see here), but the females are much duller and somewhat dumpier.
Female Sitticus inexpectus
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Yesterday I had a visit from Andy Philips (reserves officer for Hastings borough council) and Graeme Lyons (Sussex Wildlife Trust’s ecologist) who came to look for some typical shingle spiders. We found a good range of species including Sitticus inexpectus, Euophrys frontalis , Heliophanus flavipes and the ubiquitous Zebra Jumping Spider (Salticus scenicus). The highlights were a tiny male Neon pictus at Castle Water and a male Phlegra fasciata. This latter is pretty rare (RDB3) and has not been seen here for nearly 20 years, so it was a good find. Feeling a bit jealous that Andy and Graeme had found it and not me I went to the same spot early this afternoon and quickly found another, this time an immature female.
Phlegra fasciata
While leaving the wader pool hide yesterday I noticed a striking spider on the walkway. I was certain that it was the RDB1 jumping spider Pellenes tripunctatus, but having no pots and a camera that wasn’t working I had to wait until today to confirm the identification. First found in Britain at Folkestone in Kent in the 1880’s, this species currently occurs at only two shingle sites in Britain - Dungeness and Chesil Beach in Dorset (though there was an unconfirmed record from the Crumbles in East Sussex in the 1980’s). Considering that it does occur along the coast at Dungeness it is perhaps not surprising that it has turned up here, but it was still a very exciting find!
Pellenes tripunctatus in flight. Note that this individual is missing its right front leg.
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The warm, still weather at Castle Water today brought out a nice selection of odonata species. Damselflies included good numbers of Blue-tailed and Common Blue Damselfly (with the odd Azure and Variable in the mix) and a single Large Red Damselfly at Castle Water Hide. Only two species of dragonfly today, Hairy Hawker and Four-spotted Chaser, but both of these were quite abundant. Other species of note included my first Small Copper of the year and the uncommon crab-spider Thanatus striatus.
Four-spotted Chaser
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I’ve spent a bit of time this year turning over stones and sieving the roots of grasses in the search for a suite of rare money spiders which could occur on the shingle at Rye Harbour. No luck so far, but I have come across an interesting selection of other, larger spiders. This has included Phrurolithus festivus (The Pretty Ant Spider - great name!), Neon pictus and today several other jumping spiders, incuding Heliophanus flavipes, Euophrys frontalis, and best of all, Sitticus inexpectus, another species which, while not common nationally, is fairly regular at Rye Harbour.
Sitticus inexpectus
Avoiding the mid-day sun today I found this large specimen of a Zebra Spider, a very common species, but I had not really had a close look at one before. Its jaws are huge…
Wikipedia here.
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I was out and about in Peasmarsh last week looking at bee-flies and mining bees on a nice south facing slope and came across this spider -tentatively identfied as Xysticus bifasciatus a scarce species. I am awaiting confirmation or correction.
There are always some small creatures to be seen, even in winter, and yesterday, whilst on my knees looking at fungi in Cock Wood, Peasmarsh, I spotted this spider on the leaf litter. I was immediately struck by the colouring and how well it merged into the colouring of the dead leaves. Chris Bentley identified it as Agroeca (Liocranidae), probably A. brunnea.
