#snakesunday Photographer wishes to remain anonymous; respect that if you know this person and/or pic's. I've permission to use several. Lampropeltis elapsoides, FL, USA; Pre-pub teaser😁 Specific details of locality will be withheld. Pic's to be in upcoming publication by yours truly, et al. Enjoy!🐍

snake-spider-et-al.weebly.com/spiders.html A 2-year long project which seems to have reached some semblance of fruition - cataloguing all the species I've photographed (properly). c. 600 of the 800 odd species on this site are spiders, of which over 100 are Linyphiids! @britishspiders.bsky.social

Congratulations to my hard-working snakey graduate student, @hippieherper.bsky.social ! Well-deserved! Check out his work on garter snake venom evolution in IOB 🐍 ☠️ academic.oup.com/iob/article/...

Pales in comparison to @chalkspring.bsky.social's, but here's my Spider Top 10 for 2025! I've stuck to lifers and gone for rewarding over rare. One genus will show up thrice, and I will not apologise! @britishspiders.bsky.social @tylanberry.bsky.social @graemelyons.bsky.social

What a collection!

it’s amazing how diverse ants are 🙇🐜

The mighty Sunda King Cobra hunting along a track through the Singapore mangroves. It passed by humans young and old without slightest bit of interest. Deadly is not always dangerous.

A couple of Cat-eyed Snakes (Leptodeira ornata) found on the crawl while hiking at night! This is quite the emblematic genus in Latin America, fairly common but extremely cool! #herps 🐍

A Mangrove pit viper (Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus) from Singapore with damage on both eyes. I was looking for a much bigger snake that day, but the day got off to a good start when I saw someone taking videos of something moving on a shrub barely a metre from the edge of the railing!

A male Cyrtophora cylindroides from Singapore - I was thoroughly confused when I found it in a space web (perhaps I could be excused for fruitlessly scouring Theridiid literature until @kalakemangga.bsky.social corrected me). Quite happy with the shot! @britishspiders.bsky.social

This is the Sunburst Candy Spider from Thailand. Not AI (sucks to have to declare this). Very real and had been on my wish list for a long time. The taxonomic placement is unclear, so we are leaving it at Cyrtarachninae.

Chilean Recluse (Loxosceles laeta)

Things that can happen while filming Portia in the field: we had a (not so) little visitor wandering by with his chicks! Not sure who was more surprised… #cassowary #portia #daintree #storiesfromthefield

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

What a find! A spider which seems oddly reluctant to be discovered

What a privilege to have seen both ends of the UK's spider size spectrum - the magnificent Cardinal Spider (Tegenaria parietina) and the diminutive Theonoe minutissima within a few days of each other - a 50x difference in legspan! @britishspiders.bsky.social

Good to finally get across to the border and do a bit of conifer wood bashing in Devon. Didn't take me long to find the mossy habitat for Centromerus serratus. It was accompanied by the usual Saaristoa firma and Porrhomma pallidum. @britishspiders.bsky.social @graemelyons.bsky.social @cofnod.org.uk

A dream come true: seeing a pelican spider (Archaeidae) in the field Austrarchaea griswoldi, found in Eungella National Park, Queensland

I am dangerously behind on #arachtober: Day 11 - K for Koppe (Liocranidae) - Asian ground-hunters Day 12 - L for Leucauge (Tetragnathidae) - colourfully patterned orbweavers Day 13 - M for Mastigusa (Cybaeidae) - palps that need no introduction @britishspiders.bsky.social

I knew I Zora difference!! How ridiculoudly satisfying to see pics of all four of these species together. Clockwise from top left - armillata, spinimana, silvestris, nemoralis. @britishspiders.bsky.social @cofnod.org.uk @graemelyons.bsky.social @chalkspring.bsky.social @ajcann.bsky.social

#arachtober A-Z: Day 9: I is for Indoxysticus - a monotypic crab spider genus with a very distinct abdomen pattern Day 10: J is for Jerzego - an oddly named genus of jumping spiders that seem to mimic ants and hate being photographed @britishspiders.bsky.social

#arachtober A-Z: Day 6 - F for Floronia - the chameleon spider Day 7 - G for Gnaphosa (the best spider genus in the best spider family, no other opinions accepted) Day 8 - H for Heteropoda - giant huntsman spiders (pictured is the delightful H. davidbowie) @britishspiders.bsky.social

@britishspiders.bsky.social @tylanberry.bsky.social @graemelyons.bsky.social Me: I don't have a favourite UK spider Also me: 😍 #Arachtober

Wacky unicornis - two from Sundays efforts in the Wicken fens. I can't spell Walckenaeria. Or can I?

Don't know if I'll have time for a daily #arachtober find this year, so I'll go with an A-Z of genera instead. A for Amyciaea (Thomisidae), an ant-mimic B for Bijoaraneus (Araneidae) - 'kidney garden spider' C for Corinnomma (Corinnidae), another ant-mimic @britishspiders.bsky.social

The Ig Nobel is incredible , one year an Indian guy won it for calculating the average surface area of an elephant and during his acceptance they had an elephant hold up a sign with the surface area of the scientist on it, they do showbiz better than the Oscars

In the UK, finding a new salticid is a privilege. In Singapore, over 10 species in 5 hours isn’t unusual! Here’s a selection - from left: Epeus sp., Viciria pavesii, Chalcovietnamicus daiqini and the iconic and intelligent spider-hunter Portia fimbriata. @britishspiders.bsky.social

No. 2 and 1 in the weirdest spider palps contest (UK chapter). Left: Labulla thoracica, right: Mastigusa arietina. Lucky enough to see both within a week, and finally photograph Mastigusa properly (thanks to @chalkspring.bsky.social) @tylanberry.bsky.social @britishspiders.bsky.social

Getting out of the car in Camborne: Cake collection....3 minutes. Badumna longinqua count....5 It's as easy as...errrm...cake? @britishspiders.bsky.social @graemelyons.bsky.social @cofnod.org.uk @chalkspring.bsky.social

@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

Uncovered this stunner while lifting heather in search of Gnaphosidae, Last record i can see in 1995 for this site, ive seen the webs before but never the spider, ive searched for wandering males no luck as of yet. Atypus affinis @britishspiders.bsky.social #spiders #arachnids

Always keep your eye out for collections of dirt hanging in mid air at the base of walls, particularly where you see Lasius niger marching in lines. Note the thick support threads and longer, hollow retreat structure - this is no Cryptachaea blattea, this is C. riparia! @britishspiders.bsky.social

@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

New species are great, but it's not often I get to tick off a new family. Psechrus sp. (Psechridae), my 46th wild spider family. Technically added Ctenidae moments earlier with a Bowie sp. but that one didn't want to stay still for photos so I will wait... @britishspiders.bsky.social

Recorded two females and four male Thomisus onustus from a site in west sussex first time ive found them at this site, last records are from Dick Jones in 1996 so great the species is still there and doing well. @britishspiders.bsky.social #spiders #thomisusonustus #ukspiders

Can we all just take a moment to stare into those puppy-dog eyes... 😍 I think it's very important to see invertebrates up close so you can see that they are not 'out to get you' or 'creepy'. Instead, they are absolute wonders of evolution.

Some more special spiders from under stones on the Dorset cliffs - Gnaphosa lugubris and an absolute tank of a Phaeocedus braccatus. Interesting how the fauna on the limestone differs to the granite that I'm used to in Cornwall. @britishspiders.bsky.social @graemelyons.bsky.social @cofnod.org.uk

Some species slip under the radar—like quiet Treecreepers, ancient Ferns, or stealthy Grass Snakes. 🐍🌿 This #30DaysWild, take time to notice the overlooked and learn their stories. 🔍 Discover more: buff.ly/ht2VRhh

Definitely top 5 linys on my wish list!

!!!

Ive only seen this spider once before in my home. Its an adult male Theridion familiare. West Sussex @britishspiders.bsky.social

One of several Mountain Vipers (Vipera monticola) observed high in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco yesterday. Lizard eaters making a life at high altitudes and with a short season of activity. #herps #snakes 🌿

🕷️Close-up view of the eyes of a little "Oklahoma Brown Tarantula" (Aphonopelma hentzi) found beneath a stone in the woods. Apparently females can live up to ~20 years, and males ~5-10!

Seems markedly different from florentina - I wonder if I’ll ever be lucky enough to see one

Happy 99th birthday to the man who gave voice to the wild. 🎉 Sir David Attenborough, thank you for a lifetime dedicated to the natural world, and for sharing its story with wisdom, wonder, and grace. You've inspired generations to fall in love with nature.

Theridion hannoniae. Checked up on the local population. Have spread to a few of the surrounding stones now, but still concentrated in that specific spot. Ants seem to be the prey. 1st shows an egg sack. Don't know if it's related. @britishspiders.bsky.social @tylanberry.bsky.social

Here's the littlun from last week....yep, Altella lucida! From a new site again - I had a feeling that if I returned to the Gnaphosa site at Penhale Point with a refined eye I might find it there. Presumed regionally extinct a few years ago, now at four cliff sites here. @britishspiders.bsky.social

Young burrowing wolf decided a passing antlion larvae was worth leaving the burrow to catch, and, as someone who can be coaxed out of the house to find strange creatures, I relate. #InverteFest

Perfect weather for Green Tiger Beetle (Cicindela campestris) today! This male was seen at Cwm Tips, near Beddau, this morning. Just look at those fearsome jaws!

Has an Eratigena ever won one of these battles? Surely a wandering male Pholcus would be no match for one