Britain`s Spiders – A Field Guide (WILDGuides of Britain & Europe, 21)

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This Opticron Hand Lens contains a high quality 23mm doublet lens, made of glass and provides excellent distortion-free magnification. The 10x magnification is recommended for general observations and this magnifier is the one most commonly recommended for all types of fieldwork.

The kindest thing anyone can do is let them outside. They are only looking for one thing, and that's the lady spider,' says Hine. House spider surprisesA large brown or grey spider with a leg span of up to 8cm. It chevron marked body maybe an impressive 16mm (incl head). It makes an untidy web with tubular retreat behind furniture or loose skirting, but also under logs and in hollow trees – its original habitat. Can scuttle up to 50cm per second. Zebra spider ( Salticus scenicus) The zebra spider uses its four pairs of large eyes to locate prey and its jumping ability to pounce and capture it. The scientific name, Salticus scenius, means 'theatrical jumper'/Credit: Getty When it comes to lists of common phobias, arachnophobia – the fear of spiders – almost always makes the top ten, and more often than not, the top five. Some have even argued that the fear of spiders, like the fear of snakes, is an innate fear – people are simply born with it thanks […]

With warmer weather, we keep our doors and windows open longer into spider season, and let more of the wandering males in. Autumn is the best season to appreciate spiders, when seasonal dew turns garden webs into a glittering display. You may notice more spiders appearing in autumn and winter - but why?/Credit: Getty What attracts spiders to the house in autumn Plumper, broader, rounder than the garden spider, with four indented dimples on its abdomen, usually outlined with four white spots but very variable. Up to 17mm in length. More usually found in grassland and heaths – webs are stretched between plants with a funnel retreat at one side. The heaviest British spider. Makes webs in long grass and dense shrubs. Bridge orb-weaver ( Larinioides sclopetarius) The bridge orb weaver spider is often found in light areas near water/Credit: GettyDetailed accounts and more than 700 stunning photographs highlight key identification features for each genus and species, and include information on status, behaviour and habitats One spider that benefits from good summer weather is the European garden spider, Araneus diadematus, also known as the garden orb-weaver or cross spider. People often spot the females sitting in the middle of their large webs in gardens or across doors and windows. The Museum's Identification and Advisory Service gets a lot of reports of house spiders, the generic name given to a group of large, long-legged spiders in the groups Tegenaria and Eratigena. Males can have a leg span up to 120 millimetres, and they are usually brown and hairy with dull stripes on the body.

Some of the non-web-builders have fascinating behaviours. In the nurseryweb spider ( Pisaura mirabilis), for example, mature males catch a fly before courting. They wrap it in silk and offer it to a prospective partner – a ‘nuptial gift’. While the female is engaged in eating the gift, the male takes the opportunity to mate. There are around 650 species of spider in the UK, ranging from those with a leg span of just a couple of millimetres, to the 12cm leg span of the cardinal spider. Spiders are predators, and they use an impressive pair of fangs to catch prey, and to introduce venom. All spiders have fangs but not all spiders have fangs that are able to pierce human skin. Consequently, there are relatively few UK species that are able to bite us in any meaningful way.House spiders are not as common as they used to be - homes are now better sealed and central heating and more disturbance makes them dry and unwelcoming to Tegenaria and Eratigena. These scissor action Bug Tongs are the perfect way for children to collect larger insects and bugs which cannot easily be caught using a pooter. It’s simply a matter of understanding – fear often comes from ignorance, and the best antidote to ignorance is knowledge. And when it comes to acquiring a knowledge of spiders – at least those of Great Britain – it’s dashedly to find a more informative and accessible book about them than Britain’s Spiders from the Princeton University Press WILDGuides series. What can you tell us about the different kinds of webs that can be found in the UK and the species that they indicate? This major identification guide to 450 species of spider is designed for easy use. Each species is described in detail and illustrated in colour, including common colour variants and differences between the sexes. General family features are also described, with information on behaviour and web-making, including a key to spiders’ webs.

UK spider species usually have eight eyes, though some many have six or even less. You would assume this meant they have excellent vision, but they don't. With poor eyesight, spiders tend to rely on touch, taste and vibrations to move around and find food. Can you be bitten by a spider in the UK? A complete list of the spiders recorded in Britain, indicating the ease of identification as well as rarity and conservation statusJones-Walters, L. M. 1989. Keys to the families of British spiders. AIDGAP. Shrewsbury: Field Studies Council. A very useful key when first starting out with spiders. Placing a spider in the correct family from general appearance becomes easier with experience, but is an essential first step in naming the species.