72
Suffolk Natural History, Vol. 40
Spider Recorder’s Annual Report 2003 No species were recorded as new to the county in 2003 but one species was added to the county list on the basis of a record from two years ago. Phil Wilkins collected and photographed the wasp spider Argiope bruennichi at Pound Farm, Framlingham in 2001 but the information only reached me during 2003. As far as I am aware this is the first and only time the spider has been observed in Suffolk although its national distribution would suggest that it ought to be more widespread in the county. This sighting brings the total number of spider species recorded from Suffolk to 423. Stan Dumican and Ray Ruffell continue to provide the majority of Suffolk records in addition to my own and I am very grateful for their contributions. Ray has again concentrated his efforts on under-worked tetrads in the south of the county and his finds during 2003 included two nationally scarce species; Achaearanea riparia from Great Cornard and Zilla diodia from Stoke by Nayland. Stan also recorded two nationally scarce species in 2003; the jumping spider Marpissa muscosa from the Elveden Estate and the crab spider Philodromus albidus from his garden in Sicklesmere. This last species also turned up during the SNS field meeting at Milden Thicks SSSI in June when it was beaten from a tree in Long Wood. A small number of records were also submitted by other naturalists in 2003 thus continuing the trend reported in previous years. Neil Sherman’s discovery of Meta bourneti on Ipswich Golf Course was reported in White Admiral (No. 57, p. 22) and also in British Wildlife (Volume 15 (1), p. 65). Peter Winter of Lawford sent a list of species from the Essex Wildlife Trust’s reserve at Hogmarsh on the River Stour near Brantham. This list included the nationally scarce spider Enoplognatha mordax, a saltmarsh specialist that is particularly characteristic of estuarine sites in Essex and Suffolk. Stuart Warrington of the National Trust sent details of records from Sutton Hoo and Orford Ness collected by himself and Peter Kirby. The Sutton Hoo records included the nationally scarce money spider Lepthyphantes insignis, a species associated with dry grassland and arable fields. The national Spider Recording Scheme has adopted the Mapmate software for the submission and storage of spider records. In line with this policy decision, the Suffolk records from 2003 are being stored using this database and some have already been transferred to the national organiser, Peter Harvey. At the same time records from Suffolk that have been submitted directly to the national scheme, including those from visits of Peter and the Essex Spider Group to Groton Wood and Cornard Mere, have been transferred to the Suffolk database. As time allows the rest of the Suffolk records will be input into the same system. Paul Lee Oakdene, The Heath, Tattingstone, Ipswich IP9 2LX
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 40 (2004)