Dysdera crocata; Koch, 1838

This is probably a record - photograph and upload on the same day.

Today, at work, I was pleasantly surprised by an unexpected guest.

Several of my co-workers were not-so-pleasantly surprised, and wanted to squish the guest. I not-so-delicately reminded them that arachnophobia is in no way the fault - or the problem - of the spider, and took her outside, where she rewarded me with this:

Female. Photographed in Bosham, West Sussex, UK, in April 2014 (today) using Olympus E-420 DSLR, Zuiko 40-150mm lens and 3 KOOD magnifiers.

That isn't an aggressive pose, by the way, but a defensive pose adopted when I loomed in closer than she liked with the camera. And while it's perhaps not the best way to endear her to an audience which is on the fence, those rather extraordinary chelicerae are relevant, because this is the (recently cosmopolitan) European Woodlouse Spider,

Dysdera crocata

Koch, 1838

  
As you might have guessed, she feeds upon woodlice and other comparably crusty creatures. Those formidable fangs are what allow her to bite through the calcium carbonate coating of the average woodlouse, or the chitin of a millipede or even - if you were so incautious as to poke her in the face - the somewhat softer keratin of human skin.

If you do - as quite a few people have - find yourself inciting a woodlouse spider to bite, don't panic  - the recorded effects on humans are in the region of nettle and honeybee stings (see the Natural History Museum's bite records here). 

With that, then, let's explore her taxonomy: 

- Dysderinae         

-  Dysderidae          

- Dysderoidea           

- Haplogynae             

- Araneoclada             

See also Phrynarachne rugosa, Hyllus argyrotoxus, Enoplognatha ovata, Argiope bruennichi, Pardosa amentata  and Alopecosa barbipes. 

- Neocribellatae           

- Araneomorphae           

- Opisthothelae                

- Araneae                         

- Megoperculata                  

- Micrura                              

- Arachnida                             

See also Dicranopalpus ramosus.

- Chelicerata                            

- Arthropoda                            

See also Ligia oceanica, Eremoides bicristatus, Hagenomyia tristis, Dichtha inflata, Oedemera nobilis, Otiorhynchus atroapterus,Malachius bipustulatus , Phyllobius pomaceus, Cheilomenes lunata, Melolontha melolontha, Neojulodis vittipennis, Demetrias atricapillus, Anthia fornasinii, Lophyra cf. differens, Synagris proserpina, Vespula germanica, Astata tropicalis, Anthophora furcata, Andrena nigroaenea, Zebronia phenice, Crambus pascuella, Nemophora degeerella, Sphinx ligustri, Laelia robusta, Acada biseriata, Metisella willemi, Anthocharis cardamines, Papilio demodocus, Panorpa germanica, Chloromyia formosa, Senaspis haemorrhoa, Helophilus pendulus, Episyrphus balteatus, Metadon inermis, Diasemopsis meigenii, Dolichotachina caudata, Megistocera filipes, Pephricus, Grypocoris stysi, Ranatra, Anoplocnemis curvipes, Idolomantis dentifrons, Sibylla pretiosa, Tettigonia viridissima, Stictogryllacris punctata, Enyaliopsis, Humbe tenuicornis, Lobosceliana loboscelis, Cyathosternum prehensile, Heteropternis thoracica, Pseudothericles jallae, Enallagma cyathigerum, Pseudagrion hageni, Lestinogomphus angustus and Rhyothemis semihyalina. 

- Ecdysozoa                               

- Protostomia                              

See also Burtoa nilotica.

- Nephrozoa                                  

See also Caprimulgus pectoralis, Tockus alboterminatus, Larus argentatus, Sterna hirundo, Burhinus vermiculatus, Troglodytes troglodytes, Megaceryle maxima, Ardea goliath, Chalcophaps indica, Stigmatopelia senegalensis, Lygodactylus capensis, Thelotornis capensis, Zootoca vivipara, Trachylepis varia, Trachylepis striata wahlbergi, Hipposideros vittatus, Syncerus caffer, Rana temporaria, Breviceps poweri, Chiromantis xerampelina and Synchiropus splendidus. 

- Bilateralia                                     

- Eumetazoa                                     

- Animalia                                          

- Eukaryota                                         

There are two species of Dysdera present in the UK, both of which can occasionally be found indoors - much more frequently in the case of today's distinctly synanthropic (does well near humans) guest. They're not too readily distinguished, as colour characters are often unreliable, but the presence of one external character can readily rule out Dysdera erythrina [although its absence cannot, unfortunately for the spiders, rule out D. crocata, and so dissection is sometimes necessary if perfect identification is vital to the survival of the human race]. Behold;

Although not at their most visible in this shot, our lovely lady has a couple (three, actually, on the circled thigh - two is usual) of small, black bristles on the dorsal surface (top side) of her fourth femur (thigh bit). So - despite having colouring suggestive of D. erythrina, and being in a region where both are known, we've got a known specimen.

Which is nice, don't you think?

And with that, that really is all, folks.

An excellent starting point for UK spiders is the Spider (and harvestman) Recording Scheme - link in name. With pictures of probably a majority of species, maps of known records, and absolutely stunning graphs and pie-charts (I love statistics. I didn't always. But now I do. Thank you, Dr. Tom Reader, for showing me the light. If I'd only realised my love before I handed in my dissertation three years ago...). 

Larus argentatus, Pontoppidan, 1763.

So here's a second synanthrope for the day:

Juvenile, Brighton, East Sussex, U.K, in July 2012, using Olympus E-420 and Zuiko 70-300mm lens.

This is a member of the most frequently cited example of species ring - essentially, when a more-or-less continuous band of a specific environment exists (as in the near-arctic and arctic coasts of Europe, America and Asia) - a species that becomes adapted to that specific environment will eventually spread through and colonise the whole area but, if the ring is large enough that genetic flow between populations are incomplete, then genetic drift can cause the two ends to be genetically incompatible when they eventually close the ring.

This particular ring closes in the UK, which is probably why it's so frequently cited, with the Lesser black-backed gull, and the silver-backed, or Herring gull,

Larus argentatus

(Pontoppidan, 1763)

Which, when it grows up, should look like these little fellows from Priory Park in Chichester, West Sussex, UK: 

Photographed in Priory Park, Chichester, West Sussex, UK, in January 2012, using Olympus E-420 and 40-150mm Zuiko lens.

 And it belongs to:

- Laridae         

-Lari                 

See also Sterna hirundo.

- Charadriiformes

See also Burhinus vermiculatus.

- Neoaves             

See also Troglodytes troglodytes, Megaceryle maxima, Ardea goliath, Chalcophaps indica, Stigmatopelia senegalensis  and Tockus alboterminatus.

- Neognathae          

- Neornithes              

- Euornithes                

- Aves                           

- Maniraptora                  

- Coelurosauria                  

- Tetanurae                          

- Therapoda                           

- Saurischia                              

- Dinosauria                                

- Avemetatarsalia                           

- Archosauria                                   

- Archosauromorpha                           

- Sauria                                                 

See also  Thelotornis capensis, Trachylepis varia, Zootoca vivipara and Lygodactylus capensis.

- Diapsida                                                

- Romeriida                                                

- Reptilia                                                       

- Amniota                                                        

- Reptiliomorpha                                                

See also Syncerus caffer and Hipposideros vittatus.

- Tetrapoda                                                          

See also Rana temporaria, Breviceps poweri and Chiromantis xerampelina.

- Sarcopterygii                                                        

- Osteichthyes                                                           

See also Synchiropus splendidus.

- Teleostomi                                                                

- Gnathostomata                                                            

- Vertebrata                                                                     

- Craniata                                                                          

- Chordata                                                                           

- Deuterostomia                                                                     

- Nephrozoa                                                                            

See also Burtoa nilotica, Ligia oceanica, Dicranopalpus ramosus, Hyllus argyrotoxus, Alopecosa barbipes, Enoplognatha ovata, Argiope bruennichi, Pardosa amentata, Enallagma cyathigerum, Pseudagrion hageni, Lestinogomphus angustus, Rhyothemis semihyalina, Humbe tenuicornis, Lobosceliana loboscelis, Cyathosternum prehensile, Heteropternis thoracica, Stictogryllacris punctata, Enyaliopsis, Tettigonia viridissima, Sibylla, Pephricus, Grypocoris stysi, Ranatra, Anoplocnemis curvipes, Synagris proserpina, Vespula germanica, Astata tropicalis, Anthophora furcata, Andrena nigroaenea, Zebronia phenice, Crambus pascuella, Nemophora degeerella, Sphinx ligustri, Laelia robusta, Acada biseriata, Metisella willemi, Anthocharis cardamines, Papilio demodocus, Panorpa germanica, Chloromyia formosa, Senaspis haemorrhoa, Helophilus pendulus, Episyrphus balteatus, Metadon inermis, Diasemopsis meigenii, Dolichotachina caudata, Megistocera filipes, Hagenomyia tristis, Phyllobius pomaceus, Otiorhynchus atroapterus, Malachius bipustulatus, Oedemera nobilis, Melolontha melolontha, Cheilomenes lunata, Neojulodis vittipennis, Demetrias atricapillus, Anthia fornasiini and Lophyra cf. differens.

- Bilateralia                                                                                

- Eumetazoa                                                                                

- Animalia                                                                                     

- Eukaryota                                                                                     

And that, folks, is all! 

Anthophora (Clisodon) furcata (Panzer, 1798)

Bees.


Remember this post about bees?

Well, meet the diagonal second from the top left corner:

Photographed in Bosham, West Sussex, UK, in June 2013, Using an Olympus E-420 DSLR, with a Zuiko 40-150mm lens and 3 KOOD magnifiers.

This solitary (read - unwilling to sting) bee is, unless I'm very much mistaken (possible), 

Anthophora (Clisodon) furcata

(Panzer, 1798)

- Anthophorini

- Apinae            

- Apidae              

- Anthophila          

See also Andrena nigroaenea

-[nested within the Crabronidae]         

See also Astata tropicalis

- Apoidea                     

- Aculeata                       

See also Vespula germanica and Synagris proserpina.

- Apocrita                           

- Hymenoptera                     

- Hymenopterida                    

- Endopterygota                       

See also Anthia fornasiini, Demetrias atricapillus, Neojulodis vittipennis, Melolontha melolontha, Cheilomenes lunata, Oedemera noobilis, Malachius bipustulatus, Otiorhynchus atroapterus, Phyllobius pomaceus, Hagenomyia tristis, Panorpa germanica, Chloromyia formosa, Senaspis haemorrhoa, Helophilus pendulus, Episyrphus balteatus, Metadon inermis, Diasemopsis meigenii, Dolichotachina caudata, Megistocera filipes, Acada biseriata, Sphinx ligustri, Anthocharis cardamines, Metisella willemi, Laelia robusta, Zebronia phenice, Crambus pascuella and Nemophora degeerella. 

- Eumetabola                                      

See also Pephricus, Grypocoris stysi, Ranatra and Anoplocnemis curvipes. 

- Neoptera                                             

See also Humbe tenuicornis, Lobosceliana loboscelis, Cyathosternum prehensile, Heteropternis thoracica, Stictogryllacris punctata, Tettigonia viridissima and Sibylla. 

- Manopterygota                                       

See also Enallagma cyathigerum, Pseudagrion hageni, Lestinogomphus angustus and Rhyothemis semihyalina.

- Pterygota                                                   

- Dicondylia                                                   

- Insecta                                                           

- Hexapoda                                                        

- Arthropoda                                                        

See also Ligia oceanica, Dicranopalpus ramosus, Hyllus argyrotoxus, Alopecosa barbipes, Enoplognatha ovata, Argiope bruennichi and  Pardosa amentata.

- Ecdysozoa                                                             

- Protostomia                                                             

- Nephrozoa                                                                 

See also Syncerus caffer, Hipposideros vittatus, Synchiropus splendidus, Thelotornis capensis, Trachylepis varia, Zootoca vivipara, Lygodactylus capensis, Troglodytes troglodytes, Chalcophaps indica, Ardea goliath, Sterna hirundo, Burhinus vermiculatus, Tockus alboterminatus, Rana temporaria and Chiromantis xerampelina.

- Bilateralia                                                                       

- Eumetazoa                                                                        

- Animalia                                                                             

- Eukaryota                                                                             

And that is all, folks.

For information, pictures and a reasonable - if not particularly user-friendly - identification resource for British bees and wasps, try BWARS' website.