Darshill and Bowlish Conservation Society
Registered Charity No.1059952
  • Home
  • Ecology
  • Land Management
    • 2020 Land Management
    • 2019 Land Management
    • 2018 Land Management
    • 2017 Land Management
    • 2016 Land Management
    • 2015 Land Management
    • 2014 Land Management
    • 2013 Land Managment
  • Photographs
    • Members Photographs >
      • Nature Photographs
      • Lockdown 2020 Photos
      • Storm Water October 2020
      • Storm Water November 2016
    • Historical Archive >
      • Photos from the Past
      • Lower Silk Mill, Darshill. Photographs >
        • Lower Silk Mill, Darshill. Artefacts
      • Strange Going's On In Darshill
      • Middle Silk Mill, Darshill Photographs >
        • Middle Silk Mill, Darshill -Report on Archaeological and Historic Features 1996
      • Anglo Brewery Co.Ltd >
        • Pump House >
          • Robey Engine
      • The Legend of Darshill
  • News/Events
    • News >
      • DBHP NEWS
      • Community Litter Pick News 2017
      • Fish Farm News 1985
    • Events >
      • Events Calendar 2020/2021
      • Wessex Watermark Award 2019
      • Bat Walks >
        • Bat Walk 31st May 2019
        • Bat Walk 12th May 2018
        • Bat Walk September 2017
      • Botony Walk 24th April 2019
  • Heritage Project
  • Members
    • Reports and Documents >
      • Constitution
      • Safeguarding Policy
      • Risk Assessment
      • Guidance for Voluntary Litter Pickers
    • DBCS Minutes Index
  • Useful Links
Picture
Arachnology – Spiders
​One Day Spider Survey on the 8th October 2019
Survey completed by Francis Farr-Cox and James McGill
(British Arachnological Society)
BACK
Report
Picture

Survey Summary:

  • FF-C and JM were kindly shown around by Eddie Oram and were able to visit a number of sites before rain brought things to a close.  The sites that were visited were the garden of Marechiaro including the edge of Mill Meadow, the paddock and part of the garden of Ham Manor and Spring Wood.  They saw the Mill Pond site but this wasn't surveyed as by then it was raining hard!
 
  • FF-C and JM recorded 36 species of arachnid in total made up of 31 spider species, 4 harvestman species and 1 pseudoscorpion species.  Most of these require microscopic examination to determine the species and scientific names are used as very few have English names. 
 
  • The most interesting find was the spider Cryptachea blattea which has not been previously recorded in Somerset.  This small spider belongs to the family Theridiidae (the comb-footed spiders) and is native to Africa though it is now considered cosmopolitan.  It is closely associated with human habitation and is often found under things like plastic garden furniture.  They had searched some likely habitats at Ham Manor with no luck and the specimen found was at the bottom of the garden of Marechiaro in nettles next to the River Sheppey.  Although this is a first for Somerset it was not too surprising as the species seems to be spreading and was already known from Devon and Gloucestershire.
 
  • The largest number of arachnids found was in the paddock of Ham Manor but the diversity of species wasn't that extensive when identification was complete.  There were large numbers of several species of small money spider.  Unsurprisingly one of these Cnephalocotes obscurus has also been found in abundance elsewhere in “old tussocky grassland” ie the dominant habitat in the paddock.   Spring Wood produced the tiny Trogulid harvestman Anelasmocephalus cambridgei . Unlike other harvestmen, which are marked by their long thin legs, the members of the family Trogulidae have short legs and secrete a sticky substance over their bodies so that it is covered in tiny soil particles making them very  difficult to spot.  Unlike other harvestmen they are specialist predators of small snails.  Ham Manor also produced several individuals of Pachygnatha clercki.  This species is normally found in damper habitats and they were wondering if there were flushes or springs here which weren't obvious during their visit.
 
  • Proposed follow up 2020 cancelled due to ‘Covid-19’
A full list of Arachnid species attached, together with the name of the families to which they belong. 
Within a family most spiders have a similar life style: the Araneidae for example all make the familiar orb web shaped like a bicycle wheel.

Survey Data
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.