An
attractively marked spider, often called the 'Cricket Bat Spider' due to
the abdominal markings, found in small orb-webs spun on low vegetation,
scrub and hedgerows. Once a spider of more southern counties in the UK
than Nottinghamshire, it is much more wide-ranging now (2026). One at
Eakring in 2019, appears to be the first Nottinghamshire record and
(at the time) the most northerly in the UK to date.
Found at Eakring Meadows in June 2019
(Pendleton, T.A. and Pendleton, D.T.),
the female in the upper four photographs was swept from grassy,
pondside vegetation. It remained the county's only record for a number
of years, but 2024 saw records from the former Calverton Colliery
(Brownley, N and Brownley, S.) Bestwood
(Parkin, S.), Mapperley, Gibraltar
Plantation and Clumber Park (Pendleton, T.A.)
and Bevercotes Pit Wood (Brownley, N and Brownley, S.).
This is obviously, a species
very much on the increase
in Nottinghamshire and has become remarkably common and widespread here,
within the space of a few years. |
