Apologies about the low quality of the micrograbs, but here's a couple of theridiidae from Plymouth that might be of interest to forum members.
Found on the underside of a bit of blue plastic debris in a damp and shaded deciduous woodland with little understory in Plymouth. Male and female together in a negligible tangle web. Area is a nature reserve but adjoining a housing estate with much litter and signs of fly-tipping.
Jizz was acharaneae like, being quite small I was thinking it might be parasteatoda simulans, but it had a small tubercle on the back of the rounded, high abdomen in both sexes. Genitalia was simple and didn't match any of the illustrations in Roberts, but did match those in the BAS article 123 from 2012 - Cryptachea blattea. A vagrant from NZ, thought to be imported with plant material.
Marriott D (2012) Cryptachaea blattea (Urquhart, 1886) a theridiid new to Great Britain. Newsl Br Arachnol Soc 123: 9-10
Have their been any records between 2012 and these two specimens Peter?
One to watch out for perhaps?
Regards. Matt
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