A short bimble on rare SSSI heathland. (Pics)

[zarkwon]

My boy and I took a walk on our favourite heathland site on the edge of Dartmoor.







There were lots of tunnel spiders about and this was the most impressive web.


You can just make out the South Dartmoor tors in the background


Green Tiger Beetle


Cheers


7 spot


Nice to see this Yellowhammer as they are in decline.


We left the snakes sheltering under the corrugated iron undisturbed.

Thanks for looking.

[Harvestman]

Nice walk, and excellent pictures, particularly the yellowhammer.

The spiders making those webs are Agelena labyrinthica, the British Funnel Web spider (no relation to the dangerous Aussie funnelweb - in fact their closest UK relative is the common Tegenaria house spider), which is a specialist predator of young grasshoppers. The web is a sheet, above which are a random series of non-sticky 'knock-down threads', which leaping grasshoppers hit in mid air and drop onto the sheet to be grabbed by the spider emerging from the tunnel.

If you can catch one, the spiders are one of the most attractively marked UK species.

[Man of Tanith]

Thanks for sharing
your son looks one cool dude in those shades

[zarkwon]

Thanks Harvestman. I thought it was A.Labyrinthica. I didn't know about the specialisation however. Fascinating! So are they the same ones that inhabit my door frame and garden wall then? Am I correct in thinking they are quite aggressive and capable of delivering a nasty bite?

Thanks Sam. He certainly thinks so

[Harvestman]

Webs on the doorframe and wall are likely to be Amaurobius similis, the laceweb spider, completely unrelated. A. labyrinthica is a grassland/heathland specialist. Yes, it can bite, but it isn't aggresive, so is unlikely to bite, and I've never heard of one biting a person. And no, it wouldn't be remotely dangerous unless you are allergic (very unlikely) or a grasshopper (also unlikely). I've picked them up in my hands without adverse effects, although they are pretty speedy and hard to hold.

[zarkwon]

Well I may have a gentle pop at it then. Thanks.