Spiders, Harvestmen and Mites  

These are part of the class of creatures known as Arachnids (Arachnidae), and are yet another group of creatures for which I have little real identification skills. And yet, the numbers in the list below continues to grow... As such, although I've added a question-mark to some, there may well be others that are less than certain, but the important thing in this case is that we get an idea of the sort of spiders that we have around here and what they may look like. The list is arranged systematically in Family order, although spiders are presented first, followed by harvestmen and then mites. Except for the large and common Velvet Mite, the mites so far have only been identified by the galls they have caused, thus the link is to a photograph of the gall, not the creature.

In the list, where the genus is believed to be correct, I may have put the species name into brackets. This indicates that there is some uncertainty. Indeed in many cases absolute identification of species may only be made with the aid of a microscope.

Whereas I know that positive identification cannot often be made from photographs, I would greatly appreciate somebody with more expertise pointing out any mistakes - even if we only get a little closer to the truth!

The dates shown under the "Status" column relate to the first records I have for an area.

During 2016 and 2017, some surveys of local spiders were performed by David Carr, who has considerably more skills in this group than I do. The results - as of September 2017 - are summarised below:

ARACHNIDS

2016 total: 67
2017 current total: 85

Running total over two years: 113

Spiders

2016 total: 62

2017 current total: 77

Running total over two years: 102

A link to the full survey results, viewable as a .doc file (52kb), is available HERE

In addition, the following species have been reported by Rose Stephens of Forest Gate, and although I have not personally seen them I have included her photographs of them: