Shameless plug for possibly my favourite day of the year! The Staffordshire Invertebrate Science Fair. A brilliant event with just loads of interesting stands and people. At a new site this year so should be more space 😊😊😊😊

More harvestman line drawings completed. Leiobunum species have such long legs that I didn't even try and fit them on the page.

Our international journal Arachnology is freely available to our members (see britishspiders.org.uk/join) and we are also very pleased that it is made available to a much wider audience via BioOne.

🧵A very happy New Year to all our followers and a gentle reminder that it's never too late to resolve to submit your #arachnid records to the GB #Spider, #Harvestman and #Pseudoscorpion Recording Schemes via our #iRecord form: irecord.org.uk/enter-srs-re.... #NewYearsResolution #MakeYourRecordsCount

Missing the summer sweeping! Excited for the spring months and exciting changes in 2026.

Cute is subjective but an iconic species! Looking forward to this one - it's the "in between" species so lots of facts about all aspects of harvestmen..

Last chance to book on our Arboreal Harvestmen webinar taking place this evening.Learn about species such as Dicranopalpus ramosus, Leiobunum rotundum and Phalangium opilio. @britishspiders.bsky.social @megabunus.bsky.social www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arboreal-h...

Last chance to book on our Arboreal Harvestmen webinar taking place this evening, all about legs, prey capture and much more! Participants can book and watch the presentation later as it will be recorded and distributed. Date: 30 dec • 18:30 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arboreal-h...

Not long now! Book your place on my course: Arboreal Harvestmen (recording available after the event if booked/requested). Very excited for this one, we will be talking about legs and the physiology that harvestmen use for their arboreal lifestyle! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arboreal-h...

Lush day on Bredon. Getting better at leaving the house for walking trips!

Spent some of Sunday looking through the wet collection at BENHS HQ. Most specimens from the late 60s and early 70s in great condition! Their members days offer us to look through specimens and utilise brilliant microscopes @britentsoc.bsky.social #arachnids #harvestmen #entomology #invertebrates

Meet a tiny UK harvestman with a wild eye-turret topped with spiny “lashes.” 👀🕷️ Join our final entoLEARN UK Harvestmen webinar with @megabunus.bsky.social on 5 February 2026 to explore subterranean + generalist species. Sign up: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1720584467... @britishspiders.bsky.social

Lovely day for a bird survey. V grateful to go out today

Oligolophus hanseni. #Arachnids #Opiliones #VC55

Struggling with shaky hands at the moment - pin spheres are super helpful for examining pinned specimens. My colleague made this but check out Richard's ArthroSphere: www.arthropods.co.uk/ArthroSphere... #maybeitssertraline #entomology #ssri #endthestigma

Martin's enthusiasm and knowledge for spiders is absolutely infectious - this will be a great event! @britishspiders.bsky.social

UK orbweb spiders up close! 🕸️ Join Martin Frost on Tuesday, 5th May to learn about Garden Spiders, Wasp Spiders & more, their webs, ecology & behaviour. Ideal for enthusiasts & beginners. 🌍 🧪 Reserve your place: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1976588654...

Wasp time! @britentsoc.bsky.social

Well that's a new one for November...

I've been debating whether to share this but it's time to #endthestigma. Welcome to my brain. Working through 17 years of mental illness with a great therapist, critically evaluating thoughts (scientifically minded!). On the road to recovery and this week, we're doing another one with positivity.

A touch dry, but tonight we'll be searching the mossy trees for aboreal Opiliones like these 'amorous', Ramosus sp. If you find these creatures fascinating, consider joining @megabunus.bsky.social et al, in a webinar on the 30th dec and learn more. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arboreal-h...

Not long now! Book your place on my course: Arboreal Harvestmen (recording available after the event if booked/requested). Very excited for this one, we will be talking about legs and the physiology that harvestmen use for their arboreal lifestyle! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arboreal-h...

Beautiful foggy day on the local patch

Have you seen this harvestman? 🕷️ Platybunus pinetorum is a recent introduction to the UK, now spreading widely. Join @megabunus.bsky.social on 5 Feb for our final entoLEARN on UK harvestmen, focusing on subterranean species. 🔗 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1720584467... @britishspiders.bsky.social

A huge thanks to everyone that's supported me recently and helped me stay afloat. Plus those lovely folks posting harvestman pics, always a joy to see 😉

Meet Phalangium opilio, one of the UK’s most common harvestmen! 🕷️ Males have striking horn-like chelicerae, as in the photo. Join our UK Harvestmen webinar with @megabunus.bsky.social on 30th December 2025. 🌎 🧪 Sign up: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1502201859... @britishspiders.bsky.social

Very excited for this one - it's going to be all about those super long legs. Why so long? How do they work? How do these arboreal species live? See you then!

We've had a few folks asking for the recording of this session - this is still available for those that have missed the event. A big focus on behaviour and reproduction so please get in touch if you'd like to see it! @biologicalrecording.co.uk bsky.app/profile/biol...

Think it’s a spider? Think again! 🕷️ Opilio canestrini is a harvestman—one of the UK’s most visible urban arachnids. Join @megabunus.bsky.social on 30 Dec 2025 (18:30–20:00) for a deep dive into arboreal harvestmen ecology. 🎟️ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1502201859... @britishspiders.bsky.social

Beneath stones, soil & darkness... 🕷️ Discover the secret lives of Subterranean Harvestmen with @megabunus.bsky.social on 5th Feb 2026 (£12.50). Learn about rare species, new discoveries & the value of ongoing field recording. 👉 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/subterrane... @britishspiders.bsky.social

🕷️ Britain’s craziest creature? Meet Megabunus diadema — a harvestman with eyes on a spiky turret! Not a spider, but part of its own Order: Opiliones. Learn more in our UK Harvestmen webinar on 5 Feb 2026: 🔗 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1720584467... @britishspiders.bsky.social @megabunus.bsky.social

Thanks to those that attended the terrestrial harvestmen webinar! Lovely to speak to you and great questions asked. Tune in for the next one - arboreal harvestmen!

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

Out of the wind and into the microscopy - Critically Endangered in GB, Zora armillata has to be the species of the day.

🕷️ Meet Scotolemon doriae – Britain’s weirdest arachnid? Bright orange, stumpy & newly arrived in the UK. Learn more with ‪‪ @megabunus.bsky.social at the entoLEARN webinar, 27 Oct (18:30–20:00). @britishspiders.bsky.social Book here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/terrestria...

Log-flipping season! 🍂 You’ll know the woodlice & centipedes under logs, but what about harvestmen? 🕷️ Discover the UK’s fascinating ground-dwelling species in our webinar with @megabunus.bsky.social, on 27 October. 👉 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1493393342... @britishspiders.bsky.social

The BENHS @britentsoc.bsky.social harvestman course is in full swing! @britishspiders.bsky.social

Join me this Saturday for some harvestman ID time - we still have a few spaces left! @britishspiders.bsky.social #harvestmen #opilionee

BENHS Dinton Pastures – October 4th 2025 An Introduction to the Identification of UK Spiders – Michael Davis and William Blumsom Gain the knowledge to identify common spider families and species. Book a place by mailing, with contact phone: [email protected] Image: Steven Falk

Do you do moth trapping in the UK? We'd love your help! 💡 At @ukceh.bsky.social we're training & testing AI to detect multiple moths in a single image. Send us top-down photos of multiple moths on egg trays to support this work. More info & form: forms.gle/e3HzBPEd7RVV... #mothsmatter #TeamMoth

Opilio canestrinii, another #harvestman disturbed by same garden tidy as Odiellus spinosus below. At just right angle to catch bright afternoon sunlight, highlighting long, whip-like, sensitive second leg pair with which this poor-sighted animal navigates its surroundings. Bungay, Suffolk, England.

Tune in to Suffolk Radio - Gen X Radio to hear me harp on about spiders at around 10.20 tomorrow (Friday) morning if you've got nothing better to do ;) It's house spider season so open to answer a myriad of questions too! share.google/9OQJ9pA8lGFu...

Eight legs, but not spiders! 🕷️ From giants with legs 11× their body length to species that gather by the hundred, UK harvestmen are full of surprises. Discover them in our entoLEARN course, 27 Oct 2025: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1493393342... @megabunus.bsky.social @britishspiders.bsky.social

Shout out to BENHS for another fab workshop - hoppers are absolutely fascinating! @britentsoc.bsky.social

Botany day and trip to the plunge pool - Forest of Dean might well be my new home soon

Is there a collective noun for #Opiliones? Here is a clump of male Leiobunum rotundum seen at #RSPBMiddletonLakes, 12/08/25 @megabunus.bsky.social @vannabartlett.bsky.social

Last (professional) invert survey of 2025. Huge thanks to colleagues and friends for making this a great season, not a bad way to end the year.

A superb example of the harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus sensu stricto, seen at #RSPBMiddletonLakes, 16/07/25 @megabunus.bsky.social #Opilione @opiliones.bsky.social

I enjoy encountering the odd #harvestman when examining rocks and trees for #lichens. Another ancient and successful form of life. This is Opilio canestrinii, clinging to a tree-trunk in Loddon, Norfolk, England. Harvestmen tend to mature for autumn, and this is the first adult I've seen this year.

Harvestmen ento learn courses open for booking! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/terrestria... @biologicalrecording.co.uk