The Lyons Share

I went into the gents at work today and looked up to see this little critter. It's a Buzzing Spider Anyphaena accentuata. I've only seen this spider once before at Eridge Rocks last summer. It's not all that scarce but if you look at the spider atlas, there appears to be a dearth of records in central and western Sussex. Is this the true distribution or is it just down to a lack of spider recording in Sussex? It's a nice spider all the same and really easy to identify, not only being the only one in the genus but the only one in the family!

I was chatting with Patrick Roper last week and he was telling me all about tussocking, something I have never tried. Simply sawing off a large grass tussock close to the ground (these ones were Cock's-foot) and shaking the tussock onto a white tray or sheet. So, Penny Green and I headed to the valley field with a saw and some white trays. I was surprised at just how much we saw, rove beetles were the most frequent beetles, followed by carabids and one leaf beetle. A few spiders and woodlice too. I have plenty of identifying to do down the microscope but that will have to wait for another day...