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Unfortunately in many cases lycosids have to be identified by their adult female epigyne and male palp, examined under a microscope, and even then some species can be very difficult, such as the Pardosa agrestis group (agrestis, agricola, monticola, palustris). Your photos probably show a variation of palustris (var herbigrada or similar), usually found on heathlands, see e.g. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Pardosa+palustris+herbigrada+images&tbm=isch&imgil=f2e3_lmLr6E_sM%253A%253BCQ4VGQRJAKUZ-M%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwiki.spinnen-forum.de%25252Findex.php%25253Ftitle%2525253DPardosa_palustris&source=iu&pf=m&fir=f2e3_lmLr6E_sM%253A%252CCQ4VGQRJAKUZ-M%252C_&biw=1280&bih=844&usg=__EvUT2NDfA8I2kvbkrUQ0U4ldpyQ%3D&ved=0CDcQyjdqFQoTCIT3q4iby8cCFaIF2wodn8kA4A&ei=7gfgVYTILqKL7Aafk4OADg#imgrc=aSa5WRQHnIpZ8M%3A&usg=__EvUT2NDfA8I2kvbkrUQ0U4ldpyQ%3D 

However you will never be sure without microscopical examiation of an adult.

This is my first posting here - I have been into trying to id spiders for the last year - so I am a novice - however I thought the attached spider might be worth sharing and seeing what any expert opinion might be. It was found at Burnham Overy Dunes in North Norfolk part of Holkham NNR on 25th May 2015. Species that are common in the general area where I found this are Pardosa monticola, Pardosa palustris, Pardosa prativaga, Xerolycosa miniata and Alopecosa pulverulenta and it did n't seem to fit any of those - although it does show traits of P.monticola and X.miniata. I have shown this to the Norfolk spider recorder and also posted it on another facebook forum with no concrete suggestions. Unfortunately I did not keep the specimen as at the time I thought it looked so distinctive it would be easily identifiable from a book. So would it be a variant of one of the previous species ?

This is almost certainly juvenile, and Philodromus can be extraordinarily variable. I would think yours is probably Philodromus cespitum, an especially variable spider in appearance. All those in the aureolus group in particular, but other Philodromus generally with few exceptions, can only be reliably identified as adults and under a microscope. Even then the aureolus group may present arachnoloists with difficulties and misidentifications are undoubtedly not uncommon where these have not been checked by people familiar with the different species.

Thanks for the help with the comb-footed Spider, I shall make the correction on my flickr description of the photo.

I looked through the Recording Scheme's Philodromus options and am not satisfied that I can match this little critter under any of the specimens with photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/130432473@N02/18804818858/ 

It was sited and captured briefly in my back garden, which has some roses, lots of bramble and a small maple along with some other bushes and plants I have yet to familiarize myself with though most of the running crab spiders I see are on the bramble or in the rose bushes. Post code for the neighborhood is B5 7XG. Again any help or guidance is much appreciated. Cheers, Sara

Your photo link shows the orb web spider Nuctenea umbratica, a species with a slightly flattened body which hides under bark and in crevices. It is commonly found on walls and fences in gardens and is harmless to humans. The smaller spider looks like the comb-footed Theridion (now Platnickina) tinctum, not an Ero species.

You can see the distribution and information about this species at the summary page for the species. Are you able to be more specific about where at Caersws Powys your spider was seen. You can find a grid reference using the locate page.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/130432473@N02/18672378906/in/dateposted-public/ 

Hello, I believe this to be a priate spider feeding on an orb weaver, but have been finding it rather difficult to narrow down what type of Pirate Spider it is via internet searches. Any help or guidance would be appreciated.

The photo was taken early June 2015 near the Birmingham Airport in the West Midlands. This is also likely my best photograph since I had a bus to catch and my time as rather limited. I am not sure what the post code is at the bus stop but the nearby rugby clubhouse, Birmingham Exiles RFC is B26 3QS and it's about 50-60 meters away from the stop.

Hi,have just registered with this website, and have uploaded my first photograph.Being a total novice to spider ld,I would appreciate any details regarding the distribution of Arctosa cinerea in mid Wales,see recently uploaded picture taken on22/08/2015 in Caersws Powys.

Thanks for the details. You can see that Steatoda nobilis has been recorded in the area before (see Steatoda nobilis page) but all records are useful.

There had been a black spider living in the corner of my kitchen for the past 2 weeks, but it was mostly obscured by a tubular web and since I actually quite like spiders, I didn't think much of it. However my wife most certainly does NOT like spiders and so if a spider ever wanders from it's designated corner then husbandly duties must come before my love of arachnids. Tonight we arrived home to find this spider wandering on the ceiling (see below). To my astonishment I saw that it was a false widow spider (I have now identified this as Steatoda nobillis, particularly with the tubular web hiding place). Sadly it had broken the rules and so I had to dispose of it on this occasion. Out of curiosity, and since it was dark outside, I thought I'd have a look in the garden to see what was about. Well! To my surprise (horror? - my wife definitely thinks so) there were DOZENS of rather large Steatoda nobillis spiders all over my garden fence! There were definite breeding females with smaller, younger spiders around. No harm has come to us (other then my wife wanting to move house!!), but I thought I would record them on here, since I haven't seen any recorded in these parts yet, and there are LOTS of them in my garden at least.

I think your spider is almost certainly Linyphia triangularis, a widespread spider of late summer and autumn. There is a single record for Frontinellina frutetorum, of 2 females resulting from an introduction with plants into a Cambridgeshire garden in 2003. Any other records such as ones on the NBN are unreliable and almost certainly incorrectly identified. A voucher specimen identified from its genitalia under a microscope would be essential for the confirmation of any other records.

I found this spider in Clints Quarry, Cumbria NY 008 124 on 13th August and wondered if anyone can help with the ID. It looks like Frontinellina frutetorum but this seems to have very few records noted on NBN and here. Can anyone help?

Many thanks

James

Yes, Misumena vatia, probably juvenile at this time of year. Thanks for details.

I believe this is Misumena vatia which I found on my garden, 17th August 2015. This is the best photo I could get without a macro lens, I hope it's clear enough.

SH 33646 73036 Llanfaelog Anglesey LL63 5ST

Yes, this looks like Steatoda nobilis, the so-called 'noble false widow', the spider which the media make such an unjustified fuss about. It has been frequent in the southern coastal counties of England for a great many years, without causing any problems. It is nowadays frequent in many areas of southern England and continues to move north. The media frenzy caused by this spider is unwarranted. There are a number of other 'false widows' in Britain, some which are native or have been in the country for centuries, so there is a lot of misinformation about these spiders. Steatoda nobilis spiders are unobtrusive, have no interest in attacking humans and would only bite if they were put into a position where they do so as a defensive reaction. Honey bees and social wasps pose a far greater risk.

12 August 2015, Tytherington Business Park, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK10 2XA

Hi -

We have some questions regarding our resident office spider, she's been with us around 3 weeks in the hinge of the door.

Is this who we think it is? A Noble False Widow? Please can you identify her?

Has she shed her skin?

And - what should we do - she seems to have LOTS of eggs.

Thank you!

Picture of spider and picture of bite would both be interesting.

I really want to share my experience of being bitten by a spider because I think it'll be useful to many. First may I say that I am very fond of spiders and I love them being in my home. I only ever remove webs when they look tatty and unused and I greatly appreciate the service they provide. But this experience has shacken me a little probably more so because of my lack of knowledge about spiders, needless to say I did momenterally kinda freak out. At about 4 am I was woken by what felt like a sting on my arm. I kept feeling it and decided there must be a part dead wasp or bee in my bed so rather than getting repeatedly stung I thought I better get up and look for it. So I got up switched the lighting on and started shacking my bedding out, to my surprise I couldn't find a bee or a wasp but I kept looking ,then to my shock and horror I saw this great big fat (for GB houses) spider running across my bed, I grabbed a cup and scooped it up. (As much as I'm fond of spiders I won't be letting he or she go). My immediate thought was bananas and dangerous foreigners and were there any UK spiders that could bite , I wasn't 100% sure. Slightly panicked I woke my son up, first I needed a torch to find the syringe like suction tool that I have for sucking out venom\stings from bees etc mainly , which I got from a pharmacy years ago, secondly I asked him to Google the spider to see if I needed to go to hospital or anything, before long he thought it was a false widow. My first thought why would anyone give a relatively harmless spider a name which is in anyway close to black widow, not a great phycological effect. Anyway I was still too shocked at that point and just told him I only wanted to know if I was in any danger and needed to do anything. At that point I didn't much feel like going back to bed but I was very tired and felt reassured by the online info he had communicated to me. I haven't told my other two girls because I know it would worry them and they wouldn't be happy to go to bed tonight. A bit later I felt calmer and started googling spiders, interesting reading. I'm lying on a bed right now and I don't feel as comfortable as I did yesterday, my arm still hurts and I'm wondering how many are creeping around my bed room. The thing is I wouldn't feel happy to have a wasps nest in my bedroom, would you?, how can I feel happy to have stinging spiders that might crawl into my bed and disturb my sleep. And who knows who's going to get an allergic reaction or infection,I know that's going a bit extreme. Of course I view spiders slightly differently now, I'm not afraid, as I'm not afraid of bees or wasps but I will be checking my bed and bedroom and I will be more careful, more cautious around spiders as I am around things I already know sting. Noone wants to be stung by anything, and I can understand the thought of a stinging spider creeping and reproducing around your home would be unsettling to most people, but its just another thing to deal with appropriately and not worry about. I hope this is helpful/useful. And yes I do still have the spider and it is still alive and my son has just asked if he could keep it as a pet....apparently it would be cool to have the most venomous UK spider as a pet.......we'll c ! Its definitely prison or death.

The assumption from the known British fauna and the habitat would certainly be that this is Arctosa cinerea. Thanks for details.

Is this Arctosa cinerea? Location and date: Shingle, River Findhorn, btw Forres & Findhorn Bay, Moray, Scotland NJ 02411 60750. 9th August 2015.

Can't really tell from a side view, but probably the orb web spider Nuctenea umbratica, a species with a slightly flattened body which hides under bark and in crevices. It is commonly found on walls and fences in gardens and is harmless to humans.

Found this guy in the carpark at work while testing out my new phone camera last week. Can't seem to find it In any list of common British spiders. It's the second one I've seen in the last few months.

Yes, this looks like Steatoda nobilis, the so-called 'noble false widow', the spider which the media make such an unjustified fuss about. It has been frequent in the southern coastal counties of England for a great many years, without causing any problems. It is nowadays frequent in many areas of southern England. The media frenzy caused by this spider is unwarranted. There are a number of other 'false widows' in Britain, some which are native or have been in the country for centuries, so there is a lot of misinformation about these spiders. Steatoda nobilis spiders are unobtrusive, have no interest in attacking humans and would only bite if they were put into a position where they do so as a defensive reaction. Honey bees and social wasps pose a far greater risk.

Sorry I did include the location on the photo link

: East London E15 3PJ : Date 07/08/15

Hello, Took this photo in my kitchen this morning. Sorry it's not great wasn't feeling brave enough to get close then he scrunched up. Is this a false widow or is it too hard to see? There seems to be a pair of them in our kitchen window, on opposite sides.

link:http://srs.britishspiders.org.uk/portal.php/p/Picture/s/False+Widow+query

You need to provide a photograph! There is absolutely no chance of your spider being dangerous, see false widow spiders and Ed Nieuwenhuys's link on the demystification of the toxicity of spiders.

IF YOU WANT HELP WITH IDENTIFICATION, YOU ALSO NEED TO PLEASE PROVIDE A FULL POSTCODE OR GRID REFERENCE FOR YOUR SPIDER AND DATE.

Can someone please help identify what spider this is, as its in our garden. is it a false widow spider?

is this spider dangerous?

Thank you Peter. I found two more today. I will use the contact page as you suggest.

Yes this is the orb web spider Nuctenea umbratica, probably a juvenile. If you have other photos it is best to use the contact us page and send the images after you receive a reply.

This spider was found on 30 July 2015 at grid ref SO 843570. The picture is here. .

Also, I have only just discovered your website. I have a number of other pictures of spiders (with date and location) which I have attempted to identify over the last few years. Would it be of interest for me to upload those as well?

If you want help with identification, please provide a full postcode or Ordnance Survey grid reference of the spider's location as well as the date of the record.

Any answers on my post of 30th July? It has just dropped into the archives. I am relatively new to spider hunting and still trying to find my way around.

Yes, this is one of the colour varieties of Enoplognatha ovata in the wide sense, and probably ovata in the strict sense. There is a second species, E. latimana, but it much less likely to occur in your area.

Found this beautiful spider in the shed today. I think it's the Candystripe version of Enoplognatha ovata but glad of any comments as I am no spider expert. I could get very interested though, as we have lots of different ones in our house and garden. NT074417 Candymill, Biggar. Thanks!