The Lyons Share

It's not often you get three new spiders before breakfast! This spider was a real surprise when I put it under the microscope. Superficially looking like a small Hypomma but immediately realised I had something unusual when I could see light through the spider's head! It didn't take long to get it to species, it's Trematocephalus cristatus and it's Na. What a strange adaptation?! In actual fact, rather being a hole, it's a an extension of the cephalothorax that has dropped back to where the rest of the eyes are (you can see what I mean with this other specimen I recorded where the gap is open). There are eyes on the top of each of these extensions!?

There is only one way to celebrate finding this spider and that's Nine Inch Nails!!!

We've recorded 217 species from two visits to Burton Pond and that doesn't even include the vast majority of Mike's records. The group with the most species is currently spiders at 57! Also new for me today is the Nb Tetragnatha striata. Here is a close up of a male's palp.