My conservatory spiders

The sun has been shining for a couple of days and it was warm enough that I started taking plants out of the conservatory into the garden and having a little tidying up. While doing this, I found a few spiders. Many were very tiny, very young individuals that I was unable to photograph properly and identify. Others were quite impressive. They have survived the winter in the dry, not too cold environment of the conservatory.
 First up, a Steatoda bipunctata, a false widow spider, which was on the side of a pot, a fully grown female. It has a very tick-like appearance, especially when it drops and tucks its legs in.

In between the bags of compost, I noticed the sheet webs of a Tegenaria. Here she is a bit camera shy, but shows her pretty abdominal patterns.

A few cob-webs came out of a corner, and then a Pholcus phalangioides ambled around trying to settle again.

This slim, fast and jumpy male Clubiona which I call black-face (possibly C. terrestris, but pedipalp examination is needed to confirm species) also featured on the top shot, fell from the foliage of a pot plant.

Finally, a Pardosa wolf spider on the window frame. There are dozens of young pardosa that have overwintered outside and sunbathe in loose groups on tiles and stones just outside the conservatory. This one got in through the crack of the window.

Clubionidae: Sac spiders

The Clubionidae has 24 British species, mainly in the genus Clubiona. They are small to medium spiders usually of plain brownish colours, often with dark chelicers, and silky appearance. They have eight round eyes of similar size. Spinners are long, but converging, protruding from the end of the abdomen. They hunt mainly at night, without the help of a web, and spend the day in tightly woven silk cells they weave under stones, between leaves or in loose bark in trees and bushes. Species are difficult to identify in the field.



Egg sacs
The spiders mature in spring and summer and courtship is not very elaborate. Mating sometimes happens on the female's retreat. Females will also lay eggs within the retreat, where they guards their clutch and later, the spiderlings. Some species fold up or curl a leaf and lay their eggs in the fold, which the female then closes with white silk, with her staying inside.

Clubiona corticalis

Male Clubiona sp.

Female Clubiona in cell with spiderlings.

Male Clubiona sp. inside his cell between a window pane and leaf.

Clubiona with the chewed remains of her spider prey Amaurobius.

Nervous sac spider

I met this spider while upturning a garden chair. She walked steadily on the ground, and blankly refused to settle on the white bowl. She jumped a few times like a jumping spider! I had to take the photos while she settled briefly on my plastic pot on top of the while bowl. The is a relatively large sac spider, Clubiona sp. (possibly reclusa), around 9 mm long, with very dark chelicerae. Females a silk cell in a folded leaf containing their egg sac

Three more spiders on a white background

Yesterday I tried unsuccessfully to remove a dead Agave from its pot. The dried, brown rosette of leaves made a great winter refuge for many bugs. I have already talked about the hibernating ladybirds that spent the winter in it but yesterday a clutter of spiders (apparently that is the group name!) and some woodlice started to disperse in all directions once disturbed. I knew there was a sac spider living there, but I hadn't managed to get a shot. It is Clubiona corticalis (above), distinguished by its characteristic abdominal pattern. The second spider, Stemonyphantes lineatus, I had never seen before, and its abdomen is pinkish with fine lines and spots. I wasn't expecting to identify them by just browsing the illustrations at a couple of spider guides. I own The Country Life Guide of Spiders of Britain and Northen Europe by Dick Jones and the Collins Field Guide Spiders by Michael Roberts. I double checked it in one of my favourite spider websites eurospiders, with brilliant macro shots. The third spider is the Amaurobius male living in my mop with a true clutter of Dysdera.

Stemonyphantes lineatus

A male Amaurobius similis

Two spiders on a white background

The breakfast bowl technique is making me much braver handling spiders. The sides are slippery, but spiders can get out if they try, and I have to nudge them in several times with my fingers. Above, a male wolf spider, Pardosa (possibly amentata, from today) and below, a Clubiona sp. I found on the 26th of February in the house.