Esmond Brown
@chalkspring.bsky.social
Gentleman, scholar and sometime acrobat. Foodie, chef, rugby player, birder, diplomat, drinker of fine malt whisky and gin. Your friendly neighbourhood spiderman – if your neighbourhood is The Chilterns, South Buckinghamshire or the Scottish Highlands – UK
@britishspiders.bsky.social @cofnod.org.uk @tylanberry.bsky.social More spiders on the move. Enoplognatha mordax, moving inland from the coast, a first for me and maybe VC24 too. Meanwhile, Theridion pinastri and Macaroeris are busy establishing themselves in the south of the county
Quite stop off in the New Forest before heading to Bournemouth, glad i did, not the spider i was looking for, but super happy with this. Dipoena melanogaster Classied as rare and endangered. @britishspiders.bsky.social #spiders #arachnids #Dipoena
@britishspiders.bsky.social @cofnod.org.uk @tylanberry.bsky.social Philodromus buxi is slowly spreading outwards from London. This, an adult male, is the first time I've seen it in my Buckinghamshire garden
An insect body part, recovered from an 80cm deep peat core in a mid-Norfolk fen. It seems quite a distinctive shape, so somebody may even know what species it is from. Let me know if you do! 1.3mm.
@britishspiders.bsky.social @tylanberry.bsky.social @cofnod.org.uk @bucksinvertgroup.bsky.social A spider that's neither rare nor particularly scarce. It has, however, taken me an awful long time and many fruitless searches to finally find Pachygnatha listeri
After searching for this spider at other sites and failing to find it, i was glad to pick this male up at the weekend, old records from the site nearly 20 years old. Zelotes electus. @britishspiders.bsky.social #zelotes #spiders #arachnids
@britishspiders.bsky.social @cofnod.org.uk @tylanberry.bsky.social @graemelyons.bsky.social Looking for help with identifying this 1.5mm Liny, please. Found in a garden centre so might not be on the British list, but I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction
My top ten highlights of 2025! What a difficult year it was to rank these, there were so many amazing moments! analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com/2026/01/my-t...
@britishspiders.bsky.social @cofnod.org.uk @graemelyons.bsky.social @tylanberry.bsky.social @snake-spider-et-al.bsky.social Some of my favourite UK finds of 2025. Happy New Year #spiders
@britishspiders.bsky.social Very happy to still be finding new spiders as we approach the end of the year: Gnaphosa leporina has been high on my wanted list, since Lawrence Bee found it locally during a survey in 2019. Thanatus striatus, is, I believe, a first for Buckinghamshire,
Fed up with autumn leaf backgrounds yet? Let's go green. Nigma walckenaeri. #Arachnids #Spiders #VC55 #green #macrophotography #macro #OMSystem
@britishspiders.bsky.social @tylanberry.bsky.social @cofnod.org.uk Really happy to find this spider (another follow-up of Rowley Snazell's old Bucks records). From a site I'd visited previously, but looking at in a new way, thanks to a tip from @chizz13.bsky.social Walckenaeria dysderoides #spiders
Nice to see this one, its the first time ive seen the male. From a woodland site in Sussex. Pachygnatha listeri. @britishspiders.bsky.social
@britishspiders.bsky.social @tylanberry.bsky.social @graemelyons.bsky.social Lovely family holiday to Greece (Kos). I managed to find a little time to look for some local arachnids. Amazing diversity in a small place
Great records this week, for the West Sussex site i record for a male and female Hahina pusilla, waiting on a second opinion on the male but the female is easier to ID. Good records for a scarce species. @britishspiders.bsky.social
Really awesome to see an adult male of the rare Glyphesis servulus in Cambridgeshire recently. A right whopper at 1mm! 😁 @britishspiders.bsky.social @cofnod.org.uk @graemelyons.bsky.social @chalkspring.bsky.social
#Aractober Woodlouse spider, Dysdera crocata. An adult male. Not great palp shots. Has femora spines, garden find plus at 11mm it's not going to be D erythrina. For more ID tips visit srs.britishspiders.org.uk/portal.php/p...
@britishspiders.bsky.social @tylanberry.bsky.social @graemelyons.bsky.social Two spiders that I seem to find if I'm NOT looking for them: Antistea elegans is a spider I've wanted to find on the Bucks section of the R. Chess, having years ago seen Doug Marriott's records for it on the Herts side
@britishspiders.bsky.social @tylanberry.bsky.social @graemelyons.bsky.social Me: I don't have a favourite UK spider Also me: 😍 #Arachtober
Garden wildlife. These Harvestmen (Opiliones) are quite active in the garden at night at the moment. Thanks to Esmond Brown @chalkspring.bsky.social for confirming the ID as Odiellus spinosus. @britishspiders.bsky.social #londonwildlife
Many people are afraid of spiders. However it would be hard to be scared of this one. This is Aelurillus v-insignitus, which I found on the dune heaths in Dorset last year. A lovely little jumping spider, very charming! Thanks to @tylanberry.bsky.social for the ID! @dorsetwildlife.bsky.social
Four nice Araneus'. Two forms of Araneus marmoreus, a quadratus, and a nice dark brown diadematus. @britishspiders.bsky.social
@britishspiders.bsky.social @tylanberry.bsky.social @cofnod.org.uk Great to run into an old friend... Mastigusa arietina
@britishspiders.bsky.social @tylanberry.bsky.social Waterside Long-jawed Orb Weavers aren't usually easy to identify in situ. There is one exception: with the extremely wide spacing between its anterior and posterior lateral eyes, Tetragnatha striata is unique amongst the UK species in this genus
@britishspiders.bsky.social @tylanberry.bsky.social @graemelyons.bsky.social I didn't manage a trip up on the Cairngorms plateau, but found some good spiders closer to sea level - Raft Spider (Dolomedes fimbriatus), at last, Northern Bear (Arctosa cinerea), Pardosa agricola, Bolyphantes
@britishspiders.bsky.social @tylanberry.bsky.social @graemelyons.bsky.social A good start to my Scotland trip, but the weather forecast doesn't look promising. Clubiona subsultans, Dipoena torva (not shown), Cryphoeca silvicola, and a decent supporting cast
@britishdragonflies.bsky.social @bucksinvertgroup.bsky.social You've got to admire ants. No opponent is too big to challenge #hymenoptera #odonata
Even the best predators sometimes miss their catch. This Tube Web Spider (Segestria florentina) isn't going hungry, though – a prime position under this lamp means plenty of nighttime visitors @britishspiders.bsky.social #spiders #ukspiders
@britishspiders.bsky.social Not difficult to find in neighbouring Middlesex and Surrey, but only the second time I've found Alopecosa cuneata in Bucks #spiders
