Spiders that are not UK species are occasionally found in imported fruit such as grapes or bananas; these can include species that are more seriously venomous.

I’m a big fan of artwork in field-guides, e.g. for groups like birds, moths and dragonflies, where I think well-executed paintings frequently capture the essence of the living animals and encompass a degree of natural variation that is harder to illustrate with photographs. But the superb spider illustrations by Roberts never attempted to capture the essence of a living spider – indeed they deliberately illustrate preserved specimens since they were designed to facilitate identification of such – and for my money photographs of spiders are a much better tool for illustrating these animals as they appear in the field. They aren't bigger, and there aren't really more of them. What we can say is that because of the weather and our windows and doors remaining open, there are more observations of some of the larger species that enter our homes,' says Hine. The great fox-spider likes warmer climates and is more common on the European mainland, particularly on coastal sand dunes in Holland and Denmark. Huge and dark chocolate brown, this is edged with two contrasting yellow-white stripes down sides of abdomen; legs are paler. Common in lowland wetlands, fens and boggy upland moors, it walks on water. Head and body up to 20mm long. Giant house spider (Tegenaria gigantea) Giant house spiders love to live in the dark corners of your house, like under the sofa./Credit: Darkone/CC BY-SA 2.0 - Darkone. Image used under license: CC BY-SA 2.0 - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Darkone

Oonopidae

Legg, G. & Jones, R. E. 1988. Pseudoscorpions. Synopses of the British Fauna. Shrewsbury: Field Studies Council. As with its sister volume on harvestmen, this provides information on structure and biology of the British pseudoscorpions as well as keys and distribution maps. Detailed accounts and more than 700 stunning photographs highlight key identification features for each genus and species, and include information on status, behaviour and habitats Hillyard, P. D. 2005. Harvestmen. Synopses of the British Fauna. Shrewsbury: Field Studies Council. This excellent summary of our harvestman fauna provides accounts of the structure and biology of our 25 species together with easy-to-use illustrated keys and distribution maps. When it's a good summer, but not bone dry, it's good for a lot of insects, which is the garden spider's main food. Hine explains, 'In years like this more of them reach their maximum size and there's enough food to support more of them.' Jones-Walters, L. M. 1989. Keys to the families of British spiders. AIDGAP. Shrewsbury: Field Studies Council. A very useful key when first starting out with spiders. Placing a spider in the correct family from general appearance becomes easier with experience, but is an essential first step in naming the species.

One spider that benefits from good summer weather is the European garden spider, Araneus diadematus, also known as the garden orb-weaver or cross spider. People often spot the females sitting in the middle of their large webs in gardens or across doors and windows. All-told, the book indicates that 34 species are identifiable in the field, with practice, without capture and a further 92 are identifiable in the field, with practice, if captured and examined carefully in a spi-pot. I stress the words ‘ with practice’ since, just like bird or moth ID, beginners should not expect to be able to identify all of these as soon as they start; it may take years of practice to sharpen the eye and appreciate the subtle, but very real, differences between some species.House spiders are not as common as they used to be - homes are now better sealed and central heating and more disturbance makes them dry and unwelcoming to Tegenaria and Eratigena.

It makes me think how hard have we looked for it on our coasts? Have we been looking hard enough?” said Waite, who believes the spider could be more widespread than people think.The central piece of the book is, of course, the species accounts. They are first class and the attention to detail is amazing. Somehow squeezed into each account, yet without appearing cramped, is information on scientific name, common name, observation tips, habitat, size, appearance, similar species, distribution, phenology, status and ease of identification. Furthermore each family, and within that each genus, is introduced separately with useful identification features (covering appearance, behaviour, webs etc). The species accounts (and the rest of the book) are superbly illustrated with hundreds of high-quality images, contributed for the most part by hundreds of amateur photographers, which are intelligently and attractively laid out.

The popularity of social media platforms that have helped leverage the power of digital photography as an ID tool. Love them or loathe them, many garden spiders may be found inside the house as autumn progresses. If you're not keen on spiders, the smell of citrus such as lemon or orange is thought to repel them in a wildlife-friendly way. This is a guide that will revolutionise the study of British spiders, allowing confident field identification of many species and encouraging a new cohort of natural historians to take a closer look at these extraordinary creatures. The authors are to be congratulated on a the completion of a herculean task that has made spiders accessible to a wider audience." ---Peter Smithers, Antenna: Journal of the Royal Entomological Society A minor criticism is that I feel the excellent information on web ‘taxonomy’ is unnecessarily split between a sub-section of spider biology (‘Webs’) and the ‘Guide to webs’ section. I think I understand why this has been done – webs can hardly be ignored in the ‘Spider biology’ section but they also deserve a section of their own. However I would prefer to see a much more cursory treatment in the ‘Spider biology’ section with a reference to an enhanced ‘Guide to webs’ section with all the important information in one place. The real problem is that both these sections (well-separated in the book) include a taxonomy of web types, but they are not entirely consistent. The ‘Webs’ sub-section (of the ‘Spider biology’ section) states that ‘ webs can be classified approximately into eight broad types’ but only describes six plus ‘other web types’. The ‘Guide to webs’ section covers nine types. Regardless of these criticisms, the two sections are excellently produced with first class information and illustrations. False widows attract attention as being one of the few British spiders capable of delivering a venomous bite. However, they will only do so if they are trapped or squashed, often in clothing.This fine work, co-produced with the British Arachnological Society, offers the best introduction and field guide to British spiders by a country mile."—David Clements MRSB, Biologist A complete list of the spiders recorded in Britain, indicating the ease of identification as well as rarity and conservation status This well-illustrated guide includes all of the 34 families known to occur in Britain. Two identification keys are presented. The first uses morphological characters that are visible under low-power magnification; the second key, a tabular guide, includes a range of behavioural and ecological characters. Sections on spider morphology, biology, ecology and a glossary are also provided. Britain’s Spiders – A field guide by Lawrence Bee, Geoff Oxford and Helen Smith is a new book from the excellent WILDGuides stable, published in association with the British Arachnological Society. This book will likely fuel a revolution in spider identification in the UK that I believe is already underway. In this blog I will review the new book, but more than that I want to describe what it offers within the context of how people are learning spider identification and recording skills today.