Local spider expert Edward Milner writes:
Two new spiders have been added to the list for Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park.
The first is Anyphaena sabina (see header photo). The first record of this spider in the UK was at Kirk’s Place, Mile End Park in June 2011. It has now spread quite widely in London. This species cannot be reliably separated from pale individuals of the common (but variable) Anyphaena accentuata except by microscopic examination.
The second new species is Mangora acalypha (see photo left). This is an attractive little orb-web spider found in less-disturbed tall vegetation, such as tall herbs or gorse. I found it sweeping the flowers across Lodge Graves, which incidentally look wonderful at the moment. Until recently, the only other London record was from Tooting Common, but it appears to have increased significantly in south-east England in recent years.
The spider list for Cemetery Park now stands at 153 species.
See the Spider and Harvestman Recording Scheme website for more information about Anyphaena sabina and Mangora acalypha.
Photo of Mangora acalypha by Accipiter (R. Altenkamp, Berlin) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons.
