Local spider expert Edward Milner writes:
We have another new spider record from Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park. It is Cryptachaea blattea, a scarce cobweb (or tangle web) spider of the family Theridiidae. One female was trapped in Round Glade in September last year.
This synanthropic (associated with human habitation) species seems to be a new arrival in Britain, with the first record as recent as 2015. It has now been found at several sites around England (see the Spider and Harvestman Recording Scheme website). This is the third London record, following records from the Wildlife Garden at the Natural History Museum in 2015, and on a green roof at Elephant & Castle in May 2017.
This brings the spider list for Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park to 157 species.
Header photo (c) Steve Kerr, some rights reserved [CC BY-4.0]
