The Lyons Share

Had a great day out spidering with me old mate Adrian Holloway today. We started in torrential rain at the Cuckmere looking for Pseudeuophrys obseleta. We didn't find it but did find an adult male Sitticus inexpectus but that was already on my list from the other side of the river this year. I did however get a couple of really nice linys that I had never seen before. Typhochrestus digitatus at its only Sussex site and loads of the very cool Pelecopsis nemoralioides. Both nationally scarce and both species new to me. The latter was the first East Sussex record since 1961. Also new for the year was a long overdue Dysdera erythrina. Here is the male Sitticus inexpectus.

And the Pelecopsis nemoralioides.

A quick dash over to the Pevesney Levels to look for one of my favourite wolf spiders. The impressive and scarce Pirata piscatorius, this being the only known East Sussex site. So big and bad ass they often get mistaken for Dolomedes! Much darker and bigger than any of the others in the genus, they usually have a strong white stripe down the side of the cephalothorax but this one didn't.

And then a quick dash over to my favourite bit of abused and abandoned shingle, the Crumbles. There we picked up Typhocrestus digitatus again, at which is now its second Sussex site. The weevil Ethelcus verrucatus and this new assassin bug, Empicoris rubromaculatus. New to East Sussex after it was spotted near Henfield only last month.

And no trip to the Crumbles is complete without a Myrmarachne formicaria. Here is a little video to show how ant-like they really are. So FOUR new ones for the year leaves me on 326 species of spider for 2019.

Jumping spiders are awesome, So awesome in fact that this article can only be read by listening to Van Halen. All jumping spiders permanently have this on on their headphones.

There is however one massive problem with jumping spiders: there are not enough of them. If you count the three accidental species, there are 42 on the list, if not it's just 39. I have been lucky enough to see 28 of these 42 species so far, I'm running out of them!

I have 455 records of jumping spiders in my database. Here they are starting with the species with the most records...

1) Marpissa muscosa (nationally scarce) - 49 records

Our biggest jumper is pretty easy to pick up from casual observations on gate posts, so that's probably why it's my most recorded jumper (despite being scarce it's common in the south east). It's also easy to find when looking for deadwood beetles.

2) Neon reticulatus - 43 records

I don't have a photo of this diminutive species but it seems to be ubiquitous in moss and is really easy to find with the suction sampler.

3) Salticus scenicus - also 43 records

The familiar synathropic species doesn't turn up that much on surveys on nature reserves but does well for casual recording around towns and semi-urban sites.

4) Euophrys frontalis - 41 records

This little jumper is actually a member of the magic circle, having two magic wands grafted on to where it's front legs should be. Looking at its eyes it also has severe hay fever. Very common, especially in litter piles etc.

5) Evarcha arcuata (nationally scarce) - 37 records

This mainly heathland specialist is clearly well represented in my records for all the surveys I have done on heathlands. This is a stonking jumper, the adult males look like miniature Gorillas with added war paint. And legs. Female above, male below.

6)  Heliophanus flavipes - 36 records

OK, I know this will make me unpopular but if we have our favourites, we should also have our least favourites. I don't really like Heliophanus. We have two mega common species that are not always easy to do in the field. Neither is scarce and neither really tells me anything about the habitat. And I have no photos of either. The fluorescent yellow palps in the female are purchased from Cyberdog. There are two other rare and restricted species I am yet to see.

7) Evarcha falcata - 29 records

Phwoar!!! This on the other hand, is a smart spider. I am a sucker for a contrastingly tri-coloured invertebrate. The proportions are so pleasing too. Imagine having one of these the size of a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. You'd get some looks going to the shops! I don't see this as much as arcuata despite that having cons status and this not.

8) Ballus chalybeius (nationally scarce) - 28 records

This species is pretty easy to find by beating foliage of trees and bushes in the summer. I tend to record the female more than the male. Here is the only shot I could find of an adult male. It looks like Sibianor aurocinctus but I have only ever found that in grassland. That one is coming. I love this guy's front legs and 'upholstered' abdomen.

9) Heliophanus cupreus - 24 records.

Meh. The other species in the genus.

10) Sibianor aurocinctus - (nationally scarce) - 22 records 

I can't believe that this has made it into the top ten. I only recorded my first one in May 2016 at Levin Down. I could blame this on the purchase of my suction sampler but I think it's going through a genuine increase as most of my records are from the sweep net. Although most have been on chalk, I have picked them up on neutral and slightly acid grassland and sometimes not even particularity good grassland. If you think Ballus's legs are cool, you ain't seen nothing yet. Get a load of this.

I had a rare thing last weekend. I had an afternoon off. So I thought I would I would switch off from natural history...kidding! So I thought I would head out to the Crumbles at Eastbourne and try and find Heath Shieldbug Legnotus picipes at its only known Sussex site. It was very windy but that's not a problem for the suction sampler. With John Burnham and Oliver Froom on their way, I stood in the car park looking at the Pampas Grass tussocks. The Crumbles is now a shadow of its former self, it was an incredible area of vegetated shingle but has been developed (and continues to be developed - a large chunk has gone since I was there last five years ago). It's a sad story that the value of vegetated shingle wasn't recognised at the time BUT it still has a lot to be found there. So with my feet on the tarmac, I rammed my suction sampler into the nearest Pampas Grass tussock. They reminded me of the kind of structure with hanging litter that Greater Tussock-sedge provides and I've had good results with those in the past. I walked right by them five years ago when I was last there though.

The first sample produced a lifer, the tiny ladybird Scymnus interruptus (above) and TWO immature Myrmarachne formicaria We went on to find maybe 50 Myrmarachne in all! Included one stonking adult male which we were very pleased to see! We initially thought we also had Synageles venator but they were just female Myrmarachne (they have surprisingly large palps). Being ant mimics, it's actually the females and immatures which make for a more convincing mimic than the adult male with those huge chelicerae, such as in this video. The mimicry comes from the way it moves, the unusually-shaped and patterned abdomen, the raised and darkened section on the cephalothorax but also from the way it holds and moves the angled front legs (which are also slightly darker and paler-tipped). I can't understand what the huge chelicerae of the adult male add to this!

In Sussex this most captivating of our jumping spiders is only known from here and Rye Harbour. They are really quite hard to find, so seeing around 50 was incredible! Here are some more shots. I can't help think it looks a bit like a duck (A sad little ant-duck-spider in the second shot).

But the fun didn't end there! I got a first for Sussex (and a lifer!) in the form of this beautiful ground bug, Beosus maritimus. That's the fourth new bug we have added to the Sussex list so far this year.

And Oli had ONE go on the suction sampler and came back with a lacewing that I thought was a spongefly at first but it turned out to be Psectra diptera. This is the second record for Sussex and the first for East Sussex. Other highlights includes Neides tipularius, Dasypoda hirtipes and Odiellus spinosus (which was a new one for me). We never did find Legnotus picipes. I wonder what else is there unrecorded?

This is Pissodes pini, a beetle that I collected during a survey at Old Lodge last year in April, it wasn't until this week that I was informed it was actually a first for Sussex! I very nearly over looked it in among the larger Pine Weevils Hylopbius abietis. Like the Pine Weevil, it's found on dead and decaying pines but is usually more of a northern species. That's not the only county first I have had confirmed this week though.

This is Acidota crenata. A staph that I found on one of the turf-stripped areas at Iping Common in September. 

Again this is thought of as a more northern and possibly even alpine species. So why was it found on bare ground on one of the hottest heathlands in the south?!

I have had a third species new to Sussex confirmed this week in the form of a small snail called Balea heydeni I found under Elder bark at Seaford Head back in October, if you look at this post too you will realise just how fortunate it was for me to be in the wrong place at the right time. I didn't get a photo of that one though. So with Stenus palustris new to Sussex from Filsham Reedbed, where it is abundant and the naturalised ground bug Nysius hutoni we found at the Crumbles in vast numbers in July means I had five species new to Sussex in 2013. Four of these on sites managed by the Trust!

Now a thing I realised the other day about firsts for Sussex is that they are more significant than most county firsts because we have TWO counties!

After an hour and a half of sieving clumps of moss at Ditchling Beacon today I managed to find eight new species, including a few really unusual species but that will have to wait for another day...

I last updated my list on the 27th April 2013. Despite doing most of my natural history at work this year, I have added quite a few in this time, 283 species to be precise. Beetles continue to be the biggest grower with 71 new species, closely followed by spiders at 51. I split arachnids into spiders and harvestmen, so now my next spider will be my 200th spider! The third group which showed the highest increase this summer amazingly was fish! I added 24 new species this year, a 60% increase in this group for me.

I've seen so many good things this year but have had very little time to show them. Here are a few that never made a blog post of their own! First up is a male Araneus marmoreus we found at Old Lodge in September.

I also caught up with one of my most coveted species, the ant mimic jumping spider Myrmarachne formicaria. Yes, this IS a spider. This was at the Crumbles near Eastbourne in July. 

Also at the Crumbles I recorded a species new to Sussex, albeit a naturalised one. The small ground bug Nysius huttoni.

I had no idea that Cat-mint was a native and vulnerable arable weed. I had to do a 50 mile double take for this one.

New longhorn beetles are always a welcome addition to my list. I've encountered Arhopalus rusticus twice this year, this one was at Old Lodge.

I finally caught up with Red Hemp-nettle over at Rye Harbour.

And I've been enjoying getting to grips with coastal invertebrates too including this Liocarcinus holsatus from Rye Harbour last week. I'll resist showing you anymore photos of fish!

Here is the break down:

So, 283 species later my list currently stands at 4505 species. However, the big change this year for me has been beginning the long process of databasing all of 25 years of natural history recording. I posted about this sometime ago but it took me a whole to get going. It's a long process but a hugely rewarding one and I might have only scratched the surface but it's changing the way I do natural history. My approach is that I will never allow current records to develop into a backlog and this is working. Perhaps half of the 7129 records I have put in this year are casual records from this year alone. So my casual records for the last five years are up to date. I now have to concentrate on surveys and older records. I am currently working on the RSPB years, 2007 to be precise but it does get increasingly 'birdy' the further I go back. It's quite nice delving back through 25 years of records, if a little daunting.

So here is my overview of the records at the Sussex level. You can see the Trust reserves as dense clusters.

And a close up of Brighton & Hove. You can see clusters of records at Woods Mill, Ditchling Beacon, Malling, Southerham as well as Seaford Head and the Eastbourne Downs. I would encourage anyone with more than a passing interest to go down this road and the quicker you do it, the better. I just wish I had started years ago.