Small, pale and interesting - Asthenargus paganus a denizen of the Spruce plantation moss floor. Couple more 🎄Welsh records to add to the UK distribution map. @britishspiders.bsky.social @tylanberry.bsky.social @graemelyons.bsky.social @chalkspring.bsky.social

Another interesting Liny from the dying light of Halvana Plantation of a late afternoon last week. A second Cornish site for Maro minutus. This little 1mm thing is weirdly distinctive in the tray...aided very much by a head torch!! @britishspiders.bsky.social @cofnod.org.uk @graemelyons.bsky.social

Happy new year to all you fellow spiderers! Didn't think I'd be seeing out 2025 with Porrhomma montanum from the deep, cold, darkness of a Bodmin Moor conifer plantation! What is this doing in Cornwall!?! @britishspiders.bsky.social @graemelyons.bsky.social @cofnod.org.uk @chalkspring.bsky.social

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

1/2 #specieaday no. 683 is Andrena minutuloides. Nationally Scarce A. A 'mini-miner'. In Sussex, commonest on the Downs especially arable margins. Slimmer, shinier and with more widely spaced punctures than the much commoner and more widespread Andrena minutula (with which it often occurs).

1/2 #speciesaday no. 682 is Tomoxia bucephala. A Nationally Scarce saproxylic 'tumbling flower beetle'. Superficially like the much commoner Variimorda villosa, but a different pattern and more strongly associated with deadwood. I have recorded it between 2nd June and 10th July. Not annual for me.

1/2 #speciesaday no. 681 is Sericomyia lappona. A very smart and distinctive large, almost black and white hover with a conker for a scutellum. Restricted to boggy sites, much commoner in the north and west but also New Forest. Not common in Sussex. My records are between 30th May and 20th June.

1/2 #speaciesaday no. 680 is Stictoleptura scutellata. A large, solid, all-black (with an orange scutellum) Nationally Scarce longhorn beetle. Commonest in Beech woodland, seems to be fairly common around the New Forest but it's very scarce in Sussex. All my records are between 30th May & 11th July.

1/2 #speciesaday no. 679 is Euophrys frontalis. A very common jumper in open habitats. Identifiable throughout much of the year. Adult males have magic wands for front legs and red-ringed eyes (think Paul Daniels with hay fever). Striking white on the top of the palps too! I just love salticids!

1/2 #speciesaday no. 677 is Walckenaeria acuminata. Periscope up! The male of this spider has its eyes spread out along the turret - 4 half way and the other 4 at the top! This genus is an utter joy, I love showing this spider to people for the first time. Even the female has a small protrusion.

I am going to try and see 6000 species over 2026! Exciting. Full story in the blog post below.

Anyone digitise sites in QGIS? I have been digitising large complex sites for over 20 years but recently I have found QGIS a nightmare. I drew the yellow polygon (the geometry is good/seamless). I go to merge it with the existing polygon and this happens. Please help! Driving me nuts #qgis

1/2 #speciesaday no. 676 is Megalinus glabratus. A large, shiny, local rove beetle with red eltyra and a big head that I see in open habitats, usually on the Downs. I have two records in June but most of my records come from August and September.

1/2 #speciesaday no. 676 is Common Rock-rose (Helianthemum nummularium). Vulnerable as of the latest status review! It's certainly not in every parcel of chalk grassland but is often really common where it occurs and there are loads of inverts that use it (as well as oddly, mycorrhizal fungi).

#speciesaday no. 675 is Silky Rosegill (Volvariella bombycina). I have only seen this once at Ebernoe Common in 2016, growing out of a hole in a Beech tree. It really reminded me of some sort of coconut dessert! www.panspecieslisting.com

Apologies for the delay in getting through iRecord verification - something had to give with the book for the last few years. Now that's out of the way I am catching up with the backlog. 300 records verified this morning and 100 of my own records entered from the Spurn PSL get together.

#speciesaday no. 674 is Montagu's Sea Snail (Liparis montagui). Not a snail, but a fish! Considering it is not meant to be that scarce, I only have one record - from 2013 at St Mary's Lighthouse in the north east. I'm sure I've seen it once more though, but not in the last decade. Cut little thing!

1/2 #speciesaday no. 673 is Marsh Clubmoss (Lycopodiella inundata) is a Nationally Scarce & Section 41 (although it has come off the Red List in the 2025 status review, this is stil a plant that's struggling in places). Found only on damp, black, peaty mud (M16), in places where you'll see sundews.

1/2 #speciesaday no. 672 is the obscene Parasitic Bolete (Pseudoboletus parasiticus) growing from its host Common Earthball (Scleroderma citrinum). Around 10 years ago I was seeing this all around the West Weald. I guess it will come round again.

1/2 #speceisaday no. 671 is Abax parallelepipedus. A large & common carabid typically found under logs in woodland. I just sent off all my 8,200 carabid records to Mark Telfer for him to include in the status review he is doing. Surprised there are not more (as I make 10,000 spider records A YEAR).

A mind-blowingly cool few days rock-pooling down at Falmouth last weekend concluded with a session at Helford Passage. We found a cockle new to Cornwall! Plus a load of other cool stuff. Full story in my blog... analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-...

This Male Walckenaeria acuminata may be common but its a fantastic looking spider, since getting into Linys this Genus is so fasinating. And its great that the male and female of this species can be Identified with a hand Lens. @britishspiders.bsky.social

1/2 #speciesaday no. 671 is Bembidion properans. A common and ubiquitous carabid of open spaces. I have 3.1 times as many records of the closely related B. lampros as I do this species (on the NBN there are 3.5 times as many - fairly comparable). Mostly recorded by suction sampler. Year-round.

From an ancient beech woodland in West Sussex, its a pig to get to with all the gear, and to date ive never seen much there. But thats has changed samples from the 9th November have produced Centromerus cavernarum!!One i had hoped for there. @britishspiders.bsky.social @graemelyons.bsky.social

1/2 #speciesaday no. 670 is Silometopus reussi. A small money spider associated with dung & grass heaps and old hay. Fairly frequent where it occurs but I have never seen it away from farms. I have records in Mar, Apr & Sep. This was from a farm to the east of Brighton in Sep.

#speciesaday no. 669 is Trapania tartanella. Another recent colonist and I found this at Seaview on the I of W the day after finding Aulonia. It's only the 2nd record for the island. I knew it was different straight away as the yellow patches grade into orange at the tips - like little flames!

My friend Penny Green has started a new podcast over the last few months, I recorded this with her back in July and it's just been released. I was surveying the arable margins for invertebrates on the Wiston Estate. It's a great listen.

#speciesaday no. 668 is the Orange-clubbed Sea Slug (Limacia clavigera). This fairly common nudi was one I had not connected with until Thursday. I saw 2 at Silver Steps and at least another 2 at Gylly Reef (both Falmouth). This one feeds on bryozoans. I love the white ones with yellow accessories!

1/2 #speciedsaday no. 667 is Hair-curler Sea Slug (Spurilla neapolitana). Found only new to the UK just over two months ago, this thing is spreading and FAST. I had it three days in a row in Cornwall (four individuals). It is quite an outstanding looking nudi, big too. There is a lot going on here.

Centromerus serratus, from a site in Sussex. @britishspiders.bsky.social @graemelyons.bsky.social

Wow, we found an even bigger and brighter one!!! analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com/2025/11/how-...

Only just this morning entered all of my field data from the summer, 38,879 records entered in 2025. I still have a lot of casual, garden moth trap and Jersey records (and most of my specimens) to add to this. You can see the big study on inverts in arable margins on the Norfolk & Wiston Estates.

1/2 #speciesaday no. 666 (weirdly also my 9,666th species in the BI) is Rainbow Sea Slug (Babakina anadoni). A pair found under a rock at Silver Steps, Falmouth yesterday! Utterly mind blowing, easily a contender for the highlight of the year. My 35th nudibranch and 258th mollusc.

Well that was pretty darned awesome. BABAKINA!!! analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com/2025/11/chas...

Singularly impressive bird-finding and rarity-documentation - a visibly-migrating Black-faced Bunting photographed this morning in the Netherlands 🪶 www.dutchbirding.nl/gallery/deta...

1/2 #speciedsaday no. 665 is Pachygnatha clercki. A fairly common spider in wetlands and damp grasslands but it can occasionally turn up in odd places, like arable margins. Larger, yellower and much less common than the ubiquitous P. degeeri. Almost always found by suction for much of the year.

My 3rd record for Walckenaeria obtusa at this woodland site, all 3 have been in moss under pines, all my W.nudipalpis records from that site are from leaf litter under sweet chestnut trees. @britishspiders.bsky.social @tylanberry.bsky.social @graemelyons.bsky.social

1/2 #speciesaday no. 664 is Agramma laeta. A TINY (2 to 2.5 mm) rather atypical lacebug that I always thought was pretty much restricted to untouched chalk-grassland. At the weekend, I found quite a few in the species-rich chalk-grassland at High Beech gardens, along with other such inverts.

1/2 #speciesaday no. 663 is Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus). A migratory butterfly (although I have seen a freshly emerged adult at Rye Harbour). Most appear egg-yellow in flight (as opposed to sulphur of Brimstone). Fairly frequent but always exciting. This one was yesterday, my latest record.

1/2 #speciesaday no. 662 is Cryptocephalus moraei. A very smart leaf beetle that feeds on St John's-worts, as such it is commonest on the chalk but can appear where ever they grow. I have records between 3rd May and 12th August.

1/2 #speciesaday no. 661 is Plaited Door Snail (Cochlodina laminata). A large door snail, typically found in base-rich woodland on trees and under fallen logs. Saw quite a few at Lion's Bank, Wiston Estate today.

Shout out to all those yesterday who wrote the name correctly as I wrote it in my blog. It's White-knuckled Wolf Spider, not white-knuckled wolf spider. I'm so sick of having species names 'corrected' in such a way. I've written a significant section in my book explaining how to write them correctly

The last time I did live TV on BBC 1 was 15 years ago and got me an entry on IMDB! Still had my 2nd dreads then. And I still have that coat, it's falling to bit but still sort of functions.

The last 48 hours has been a bit of a blur. 3 pre-recorded interviews, Radio Solent live, BBC New Channel live and BBC Breakfast live yday at 6.50 am in Manchester. All down to Mark Telfer and I refinding Aulonia albimana on the Isle of Wight after an absence of 40 years! Now I need to do some work!

1/2 #speciesaday no. 660 is Arctosa fulvolineata. Nationally Rare, Near Threatened and Section 41. The other mega spider that Mark Telfer found (1st photo is his image) on the Aulonia day but didn't get a look in with all the publicity yesterday. New to the Isle of Wight! A real saltmarsh specialist

1/3 #speciesaday no. 659 is Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio). A large, long-lived freshwater fish introduced here centuries ago. Omnivorous and incredibly destructive to plant and invertebrate life in ponds. The lake at Woods Mill used to look like chocolate milk shake until they were removed.

1/2 #speciesaday no. 658 is Neocochylis hybridella. A smart bird dropping mimic cochylid (a type of tortrix). Some nice red markings and a whitish head and thorax make this one fairly easy to ID. This one was found at rest at West Beach earlier this year.

#speciesday no. is Yellow-foot Waxcap (Cuphophyllus flavipes). An uncommon waxcap with a drab blotchy greyish cap but the pale yellow stem base & decurrent gills are diagnostic. After twitching them at Henfield Churchyard, I've since found my own at Ebernoe Cricket Pitch (this one) and High Beeches.

1/3 #speciesaday is Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis). Breeds in the mountains, winters (mainly) on the coast. Love seeing the big flocks at Cley and other sites along the North Norfolk coast with their 'toffee cheeks'. This one was from the very top of Snowdon back in 2010...