The Lyons Share

Last night I went a walk up Anchor Bottom after work. It was pretty quiet but what really stood out was that Helicella itala is by far the commonest large snail up there, a great place to see living examples of this attractive snail. There was not much else about but I did spot this very nice orb weaver which was a new one for me. It's Hypsosinga albovittata and is quite an uncommon species apparently, there was only one record on the SxBRC! This species is separated from the others in the genus by the white mark on the carapace. The keen eyed amongst you will have spotted the Helicella itala in the bottom left (not right as I originally wrote) hand corner (sporting the same colour scheme as the spider!). Here is another shot of this beautiful snail, like swirls of caramel in vanilla ice cream. You can tell I am quite taken with this snail, the shells are so much nicer looking when they are alive!