Creature feature - spider of the week!

Insect activity is probably as low as it gets around this time of year, but there is always an arachnid or two around if you look hard enough!  One of the groups you are most likely to see are the spiders of the genus Pardosa, in the Lycosidae family (often known as Wolf spiders).  They are easy to recognise to genus level by their appearance; generally medium sized with obviously hairy stout banded legs and a very distinctive eye pattern.  They are found running rapidly across almost any low level warm surface that gets plenty of sun, and the females may carry a silk egg sac with them.  A binocular microscope is needed to determine Pardosa to species level though.

Even a brief spell of sunshine provided it is enough to warm the open ground they prefer will often bring out significant numbers of these spiders; the temperature is 7 degrees outside and I have just counted more than twenty Pardosa spiders basking in the sun on a 2 metre stretch of gravel.

I've also been using the winter evenings to go through some specimens that I collected last summer.  One of them was Pardosa hortensis:

Pardosa hortensis - sorry about the photo!

It is an uncommon find for Wales, and indeed looks like it is one of a handful of records this side of the border though I have a recollection that there may be a couple of sites in the west of VC41 where it has been recorded.

 

Link: http://srs.britishspiders.org.uk/portal.php/p/Summary/s/Pardosa+hortensis

And if Nigel happens to be reading this, there was another Bombus terrestris in the garden today.  It looks as though they are successfully over-wintering here.  This time it was feeding on a Grevillea which is blooming right now.

Early or late?

I was surprised to see a harvestman trundling around in its characteristic ungainly fashion in the boot of my car today.  On closer inspection it turned out to be Leiobunum blackwalli, see here: http://srs.britishspiders.org.uk/portal.php/p/Summary/s/Leiobunum+blackwalli.  I hadn't been expecting to see any harvestmen at all for a couple of months yet, most species having a strong peak occurrence in the summer and autumn.

The spider recording scheme data shows (as best as I can tell) only one previous February record for this species.

It would be interesting to know whether it is a 'late' record i.e. it has survived the winter rather than being an 'early' freshly emerged specimen.  Normally I believe most harvestmen are killed by the first frosts but this year has been so mild that we've only had two frosty mornings. In this very mild coastal location even those mornings were not cold enough to freeze the ground.

Now I am just left with the dilemma of how to record it given that I found it in the back of my car!

Spiders again

I was in the grounds of Llandaff cathedral this morning, and as the temperature was relatively warm for the time of year, I thought I would have a look for spiders.  Primarily I wanted to have a look for Segestria florentina, a species which favours port towns and is increasing its range, but has not yet been seen as far west as Cardiff .  I didn't find Segestria unfortunately, but there were several of this species, Amaurobius similis, both adult males and females.

Amaurobius similis

Both A similis and S florentina often make their homes in holes in crumbling mortar making churches and churchyard walls a good place to look for them.  Their retreats are silk-lined tubes and in the case of A similis have a scruffy layer of cribellate silk radiating out from them in the immediate vicinity of the entrance.  This silk often contains the remains of previous meals which can give an idea of what they are feeding on.  The silk is used by the spider to warn them of an approaching meal as the strands are pulled and plucked by unwary insects.  Because they inhabit silk-lined tubes, some creativity is needed to lure them out into the daylight to find out which species you have.  A tuning fork is very effective in simulating the vibrations of an insect, as is an electric toothbrush apparently though I have not tried the latter.  The tuning fork elicits a lightning-fast and aggressive feeding response from the spider so it's probably good advice to keep fingers out of the way! 

There was a TV crew filming in the Cathedral this morning and I can tell you with some certainty that  kneeling next to a wall holding a tuning fork gets some very curious looks!

 A similis is a very common species, as can be seen from the Spider Recording Scheme map below.  Although there are few records from Glamorgan, I would be very surprised if this species is not quite common and widely distributed here too.

Source: Spider Recording Scheme/British Arachnological Society (2012) Website and on-line database facility
Link http://srs.britishspiders.org.uk/portal.php/p/Summary/s/Amaurobius+similis

S.E Wales Joint Recorders' Forum and 10th Anniversary.

I would think that most readers of this site are aware of this, but Just in case.

This year marks the SEWBReC's tenth anniversary and to mark this, they are holding a joint Glamorgan/Gwent recorders' forum and tenth anniversary celebration on Saturday 22nd February, at the Soar Centre, in Pen-y-Graig, Rhondda. There will be a full range of talks on various aspects of great Welsh wildlife and there will be free lunch and a celebratory cake.
Booking is required elaine.wright@sewbrec.org.uk

Odonata Records 2013

Request from Mike Powell CR VC41. Could all observers with outstanding records for Dragonflies/Damselflies 2013, please forward their records asap to Mike. Please see VC41 Dragons Blog for contact details - Link on sidebar. Thank you.

Hawfinchs at Forest Ganol

A couple of pictures of the Hawfinchs at Forest Ganol today

Big Farmland Bird Count 2014 at the Amelia Trust Farm, Barry

Hope to see ye on the day!