The Lyons Share

I've wanted to see the male of this spider since I first saw an illustration of it in a field guide. It's Walckenaeria acuminata. It's a money spider, quite big for a money spider but still only a few millimetres long. Not at all rare, I found two today by sieving moss in a conifer plantation as part of an ongoing survey at Old Lodge. It's hard to believe what is going on with this spider Where the eight eyes are normally clustered on the front of the cephalothorax is a huge stalk with  a cluster about two thirds of the way up with four eyes on and the remaining four eyes on the top of the 'periscope'. This tiny little creature is one of the strangest things I have ever seen in this country. There are loads of different species of Walckenaeria and the males have a baffling array of different shaped 'heads'. I added my 202nd spider today, the common Walckenaeria nudipalpis. I'm just starting to open my eyes to money spiders and this genus is certainly one I'll be looking out for in the future. Check out the rest of the family!