I love photographing spiders even false widows… - this one is a rabbit-hutch spider - Steatoda bipunctata. Often seen indoors and in animal pens, garages, sheds, etc. Loves eating woodlice!
Then there is one of my pet hates - Lithobius forficatus, most commonly known as the garden centipede, brown centipede or stone centipede, a common centipede of the family Lithobiidae. This was a small one - they can take 3 years and go through many moults before reaching full size.
Third up is a willow beauty, Peribatodes rhomnoidaria, a moth from the family Geomatidae. They rest by day on tree trunks (you can see why) but I disturbed this one when trimming branches off our apple tree. They feed on creeping thistle and ragwort, and are readily attracted to light.
I’ve never seen one before - which considering how large it was (maybe 2mm) you’d think they would be easy to find - but not for me. This one was on my recycling bin tonight…
Pseudoscorpions, also known as false scorpions or book scorpions, are small, scorpion-like arachnids belonging to the order Pseudoscorpiones, also known as Pseudoscorpionida or Chelonethida.
I used to breed Praying Mantis and the other year I breed jumping spiders. Kept loads of creepy crawlies over the years. When I go out I take a tuning fork with me and if you tap it near webs the vibrations bring the spider out of hiding
- this one is a rabbit-hutch spider - Steatoda bipunctata. Often seen indoors and in animal pens, garages, sheds, etc. Loves eating woodlice!
