شناسایی Spiders and alies

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Spiders and alies (Araneae etc.)

Introduction to spider like arthropods

It is considered to be easy: all small animals with 6 legs are insects and all small animals with 8 legs are spider like arthropods. But actually possessing 8 legs do not mean that these animals are closely related as the insects are. Yet it is a practical solution to separate the huge amount of species found in insects. Small animals walking on 8 legs are usually well known: spiders, harvestmen, scorpions and ticks. Yet the animals differ considerably from oneanother. Spiders have a body consisting of three parts, like insects have: head, thorax and abdomen. The head and thorax however have fused into one visible structure called the cephalothorax. Ticks have only two bodyparts: head and body. Harvestmen even consist of one part, the body, only. From this it is obvious these animals are not closely related at all. Oh, by the way: even these 8 legs are not always there. A newly born mite or tick has 6 legs only. Worldwide there are many spiders indeed. The number of mites is considerably as well, even though many are rarely ever seen. They are small and most are parasites to mammals, birds or insects. There are far less harvestmen species. Of the pseudoscorpions only some 15 species are present in the Benelux. Many spiders and harvestmen are quite big. Pseudoscorpions and mites are much smaller. Many species can hardly be seen by the ***** eye.

The House Spider to the left is a true giant, reaching some 18 mm. Mites, like the ones on the bumblebee to the right, often hardly reach a length of one millimeter.

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...=/images?q=beautiful+insects&gbv=2&hl=en&sa=X
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Spiders belong to the arthropods, just like insects and many other animals do. Many people therefor think spiders are insects, but that is not true. Spiders have 8 legs, insects only 6. Spiders have 6 or 8 ordinary eyes, insects have two compound eyes. Despite the fact they are relatively small, spiders are more related to scorpions and crabs. Many spiders, though not all, are capable of producing threads. Some use these wires to enwrap the eggs or young. Other species produce a web used to catch prey. Below the web one can sometimes find a bone yard: parts of insects the spider can not eat, such as legs or wings. Especially below the web of the vibrating spiders heaps of body parts may be encountered.

To the left: spiders may be quite beautiful, most of us find them scary! To the right a bone yard below the web of possibly an vibrating spider.

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Spiders are not among the easiest animals to identify. Many bear no markins, or if they do the markings are identical to those of other species. The colours are just as useless in many cases. Young animals may have colours different from the adults and many spiders have either a variable colour, such as the European Garden Spider and the Goldenrod Crab Spider, or show indistinct colouring. Adult female spiders however can be identified by looking at the epigyne. This is the part of the ***ual organs outside the spider's body. Sometimes one needs a microscope to see it, but in other cases it is visible to the ***** eye. Especially orb-web spiders have an epigyne that is easy to see. This little organ is situated in a rather peculiar place: somewhere half way the body, just behind the legs. You probably expected it somewhere near the end of the body, for that's the place the ***ual organs are in insects for instance. However the organs situated at the end of a spider's body are the spinnerets which the spider uses to produce its threads.

To the left the spinnerets, to right the epigyne, just behind the legs. In this case both belong to the European Garden Spider.

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Many people have arachnophobia. Or, to put it plainly, they have a fear of spiders. In Europe especially this is unfair. Only very few spiders are capable of penetrating the human skin. Those which can, will only bite of handled carelessly. Besides spiders are very useful animals by controling the number of insects. Without spiders we wouldn't be able to go outside in summer due to the number of mosquitoes, gnats, flies and wasps. Also mites are quite usseful, for many species eat aphids. Some mites however are a nuissance. They suck blood from mammals, birds or insects. Man suffers from the tick and another mite is very harmful to bee keepers. Pseudoscorpions are too small to be a bother to us. Besides they are all active hunters, just like the harvsetmen. Some daddy long legs are even used in agriculture to eat harmful insects.

Both the small pseudoscorpion to the left and the much bigger harvestmam to the right are active hunters.

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Pseudoscorpions (Pseudoscorpiones)

Pseudoscorpions (Pseudoscorpiones)

Pseudoscorpions (Pseudoscorpiones)

Pseudoscorpions, also known as False Scorpions, are the least known Arthropods. They are all very tiny indeed. The biggest is less than one centimeter long but most of them are only 2 milimeters long. They resemble the actual scorpions very much except that they lack the poisonous tail. Just like scorpions and crabs they have the front legs in form of scissors which are poisonous. All spieces are preditors. The tiniest ones can even be found on paper of books where they hunt for bookworms. In Britain there are about 25 species, most of those being real look-a-likes. Many can be found by turning rocks, leaves or by peeling loose barks, but because of there size and colours they are easily overlooked. These species are mainly dark brown with reddish brown pincers. They feed on very small insects. Often the species can be only told apart after microscopic research.

Most probably this is a co-called Moss Scorpion or Moss Neobid (Neobisium sp.)

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Below some more pictures of a Moss Scorpion, with a better magnification this time. The claws are formidable, so let's be happy these are very tiny creatures.

This close up tells us why we are talking about scorpions....

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Because they are very small, they can't travel very far. That's why they sometimes steal a ride (or flight). Especially the species below is known to cling to a bigger insects legs. The one in the picture however picked a hover fly's wing. It probably is the Knotty Shining Claw, a common species in gardens.

Most probably this is the Knotty Shining Claw (Lamprochernes nodosus) stealing a ride from a Hover Fly.

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Harvestmen (Opiliones)

Harvestmen (Opiliones)

Harvestmen (Opiliones)

Harvestmen do look a lot like spiders, but they are actually very different. They have two eyes only and those eyes are located on the front part of the body on some kind of small "hill". Their body consists of just one element and that is a great difference compared to the bodies of insects, spiders and scorpions for instance. Harvestmen cannot make wires or webs, nor are they producing venom. The best known harvestmen have very long legs (that is why they are also known as daddy long legs), but there are species with 'ordinary' legs as well. When threatened harvestmen are able to loose one or more legs. The leg remains on the floor, moving about quickly, thus trying to catch the attackers attention. A harvestman needs only three legs to move about. Even though some harvestmen are carnivores, most will eat almost anything: from freshly caught prey to animals already dead, excretes or plants. Most harvestmen get to be adult in autumn. Their small bodies on long feet are not unlike the carriages used by farmers in the past to bring in hay. That's how they got their name. But they are also known as daddy-long-legs.

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Common Harvestman Phalangium opilio

Common Harvestman Phalangium opilio

Common Harvestman Phalangium opilio

The Common Harvestman is a variable animal. The basic colour of the back varies from grey to yellowish or reddish brown. The stomach side is always white. Females give the impression of being darker than males. This is because of the broad and two times indented white line running over the sides. The females are similar to another species: Mitopus morio. In males the same indented line is present but it is much darker and less outstanding. They do have very impressive chelicerae (fangs) though. These protrude the head and are hollowed out from below. Males usually have a bodily length running 4 to 6mm, females are slightly larger, varying from 5 to 7mm.

Males fight among each other over the females, using their big fangs as weapons. After mating the male must hurry off, for the females will not hesitate eating him given the chance. This behaviour is shared with a number of spider species, such as the infamous black widow. The eggs of the common harvestman are spherical, measuring some 0.4mm in diameter. They are deposited in groups consisting of 50 to several hunderds of eggs. They are being laid in soft soil frequently. Other moist places, such as cracks in tree bark, are also often used. The females have a short, but stout ovipositor, a needle shaped organ with which the eggs are being laid. Fresh eggs are white, but they turn greyish brown rather soon. In moderate climates the eggs are laid by the end of summer and in autumn and overwinter as such. Nymphs are similar to the adults, except for the legs which are relatively (much) shorter. It takes them some 3 or 4 months to become adult.

The Common Harvestman is a carnivore mainly, but it will eat soft parts of plants if it has to. It mainly eats soft bodied, small animals, such as caterpillars, worms, beetle larvae, aphids, woodlice and other harvestmen. It is capable of catching small insects in flight by sticking some of its long legs into the air. Cannabalism occurs infrequently. The Common Harvestmen is experimented upon to see if it can be used in agriculture as a natural pest control. With very few exceptions the results are not too promising. The Common Harvestman will not only eat the pest insect itself, but also useful parasites and hunters for the pest insects, such as mites.

The Common Harvestman lives over much of the Northern Hemisphere: Europe, Northern Asia, Northern Africa and Northern America. In warm areas it has two and sometimes even three generations a year. In these warmer areas it may overwinter as egg, nymph or adult. Where winters are longer and more severe it overwinters being an egg only. This is one of the most common harvestmen in the world, including Great Britain and most of Canada and the USA.

N.B. It is highly probable the animal in the bottom picture is a Common Harvestman indeed, but we are not absolutely sure.

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Red Harvestman Opilio canestrinii

Red Harvestman Opilio canestrinii

Red Harvestman Opilio canestrinii

The Red Harvestman is a credit to its name, for it is orangereddish brown. Yet this doesn't make him to be unique. There are two similar species: Opilio saxatilis and the Wall Harvestman (Opilio parietinus). Usually the Red Harvestman is easily identified. There is a big contrast between the reddish body and the very dark legs. In the other species the legs are lighter. Thus the contrast between body and legs is less striking. All this is true for the males only. The females have a yellowish brown or ochreous brown ground color. The leggs are ringed with very big vague rings. This is best seen in the females though. The male body reaches a length of some 4 to 6mm. The females, reaching a bodily length of 5 to 8mm, are much bigger.

The female lays her eggs in summer and autumn. They are being laid in soft, moist soil in small groups. After overwintering they hatch in early spring. The young go through 7 stages (nowadays often refer to as 'instars') before becoming adult. During the first instars their legs are very short indeed and they give the impression of being a mite rather than a harvestman. Like most other harvestmen the Red Harvestman rests during the day and hunts for small insects and other harvestmen at night.

Some 30 years ago the Red Harvestman was only found in the Apennines. Then it was imported into Central Europe, some way or another. Most likely by transporting soil containing eggs. From that moment the Red Harvestman has invaded other parts of Europe in an amazing speed! The route is rather peculiar, for the animal was seen in Denmark by 1987. In Sweden it was first seen in 1990. But it took till 1993 for the animal to reach Holland. England has been invaded from 1999. But once arrived the spreading is extremely quick. The two species present at walls at that moment (Opilio saxatilis and the Wall Harvestman) are completely wiped out. Both species are extremely rare in areas where The Red Harvestman lives. And in some places both species are completely extinct. The Red Harvestman is always found near people's homes and gardens. It is rarely found in vegetation. This species hasn't invaded all of Britain yet, but it will reach the last corners of the British Isles in the next couple of years.

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Spring Harvestman Rilaena triangularis

Spring Harvestman Rilaena triangularis

Spring Harvestman Rilaena triangularis

The Spring Harvestman is similar to some other harvestmen, but usually it is lighter and less contrasting in markings. The places where the legs are attached to the body are greyish white. In most other species these are brownish or blackish. The Spring Harvestman has relatively big eyes. Male and female are quite similar. This species overwinters being nymph and subadult. The first adult animals may appear in March. The last adults are usually seen in July, when the first adults of many other species start appearing. The nymphs can be found all year round. Even though this species is known as a forest species, it often turns up in densely populated areas as well. Even though males and females are very similar in markings and colouring, they differ considerably in size. Males reach a bodily length of 3 to 4.5mm, while the females grow to a length of 6 to 7mm.

The Spring Harvestman rests on walls, fences or tree trunks during the day. Very common all over England and Wales. Common in Scotland, especially near the east coast. Common in Ireland as well. Even lives on Iceland and in Northern Scandinavia. In these cold parts of Europe the adults appear much later (usually around May).

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Dicranopalpus ramosus

Dicranopalpus ramosus

Dicranopalpus ramosus

Dicranopalpus ramosus is a harvestman everyone is capable of identifing, especially when it is resting. The animal sits flat on the surface of a wall, fence or trunk of a tree. All legs are spread out along and very close to each other to the sides. The enormous and forked palps are stretched out forward in full. In this position the animal can spend the entire day. But even when it is walking the enormous forked pedipalps are extremely impressing. The animal even seems to be in possession of 10 in stead of 8 legs. The ground colour of this species is greyish brown. In most parts of Western Europe this is the only harvestmen showing forked palps. In the Alps however a second such species may be encountered, the very closely related Dicranopalpus gasteinensis. The males reach a length of some 3 to 4mm. The females are bigger and reach a bodily length of some 4 to 6mm.

Dicranopalpus ramosus has been discovered as a species in 1904 in Marocco. It was absent from Europe by then. After its discovery it rapidly spread northwards into Europe. In 1948 it was seen in Portugal. Less than 10 years later it was discovered in Britain (Bournemouth, 1957). The spreading went on northwards and eastwards. Spain was reached by 1965, France followed in 1969. By 1994 the Netherlands were reached. Still it took the animal until 2004 to reach Germany. In Britain Scotland was invaded in 2000. The spreading is much like the Red Harvestman's, but a lot slower. Yet there is little doubt Eastern Europe will be conquered as well.

Dicranopalpus ramosus is a common species all over Britain nowadays. One thing should be kept in mind though: due to the curious way of resting everybody is capable of identifying this animal, so information about its spreading is quite plentiful. Many other harvestmen need close inspection to establish the identity. Information about their presence is much more unreliable. Dicranopalpus ramosus is a rather late species, for adults do not often appear before mid-August. When conditions are good they keep on sleeping on your wall till November.

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Oligolophus tridens

Oligolophus tridens

Oligolophus tridens

Oligolophus tridens is one of the short-legged harvestmen. They usually spend their life on the ground and do not climb plants, trees or walls. Of all short-legged harvestmen this is probably the most common. Alas, we couldn't find much information on the internet or in our books about this species.

Even though it is extremely likely indeed the animal in the pictures actually is Oligolophus tridens, we can not guarantee this.

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Mites and Ticks (Acari)

Mites and Ticks (Acari)

Mites and Ticks (Acari)

Mites are closely related to spiders. They also have 8 legs. They differ from spiders in one respect: they crawl out of their eggs with six legs only. Only after the first skinning the fourth pair of legs appear. Spiders are born with all eight legs. Besides mites are small, almost invisible to the ***** eye. Many species are parasites to all kind of animals: from man to insects. Some mites are very small animals that hunt for insects mainly, such as plant lice. These small red animals are probably the best known mites known to most people.

These well-known red mites hunt for plant lice and other small insects.

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Ticks usually are parasites living mainly on birds and mammals. Below you see pictures of tick nymphs. To the left a freshly hatched nymph, for like all mites the first instar has 6 legs only. To the right a later instar, which is complete and equipped with 8 legs. The tick is a small animal indeed, but that does not mean it isn't dangerous. On the contrary, ticks can be very dangerous indeed! They suck blood from mammals, including humans. Normally they bite you and hang on to you for one or two weeks, before letting go. But in the mean time they can give you some serious diseases. In Holland and Belgium the only disease they are spreading at the moment is Lyme's disease. This is a very severe illness, unless treated early with heavy medication. So when you detect a tick somewhere on your body check the spot regularly for weeks. When it's getting red, and white and red ringlets appear, do see your doctor immediately. In 1999 Hans was bitten 12 times (one bite resulted in Lyme's disease), in 2000 only 8 times with no serious consequences. Ticks bite animals all their life long starting from the moment of birth. The female adult ticks are considerably larger than the nymphs and more colourful. Below to the right two adult females and one adult male, which is entirely dark.

Two pictures of the larvae of the Tick (Ixodes ricinus). To the left a newly hatched, to the right an older animal.

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Below two pictures of adult ticks. Even though ticks have four pairs of legs, they only use the last three pairs to walk about. As they do not have antennes, the first pair of legs is used as such. They are packed with sensitive nerves and these are used to find victims, mates etc. The use of the first pair of legs as antennae is clearly visible in the picture to the left below. The female probably 'smelled' me and was ready to let go and fall upon me.

To the left: the first pair of legs is used like a pair of antennae. To the right: two females and one male waiting for a host.

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Below to the left another nymph. To show you exactly how small the nymph is, we have put a match near it, for you to compare. The smallest nymphs, those just hatched, have three pairs of legs only. Six legged mites are often called larvae instead of nymphs. Only after they have bitten their first victim, they cast their skin for the very first time and with that the fourth pair of legs appears and from that moment on they are called nymphs. To the right a male. The adult male lacks the red of the female. That is because it doesn't bite anymore. Being a larva or nymph the male sucks blood just like the female does, but once it is adult it stops eating alltogether. Like a female it waits on a stem for a hot blooded animal to pass by and just like the female it crawls on this animal when it is brushing against the plant. But instead of sucking blood it searches for females to mate.

To the left a small nymph, to the right an adult male.

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Ticks are dangerous animals to people and we had an explosion of them in our garden lately. So we wondered whether they suffer from any natural enemy. They are too small for birds and we have never seen one in a spider's web. But then one day, I was turning over some stones to see what could be found underneath and got lucky. I saw a tick walking happily towards me, when it was noticed by a Red Ant. Immediately the ant started to bite the tick severely. Soon another ant showed up. Both ants were biting the poor tick incessantly. The tick soon stopped protesting. When it was completely quiet, the two ants transported the tick right into the nest. Even though I felt sorry for the tick, I was glad to know at least one natural enemy of the bugger...

Tick attacked by Red Ants.

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Many ticks use warm blooded animals for host, especially birds and mammals. Many other mites however are parasites to other animals as well and can be found on insects. Many bees, especially bumble bees, suffer from these bloodsucking mites. Just take a look at the Bumble Bee below. It is covered by at least four mites. The mites will of course weaken the animal's condition and thus can be very harmful to the animal.

This Bumble Bee suffers from mites.

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Many mites can hardly be seen without a microscope, for most are very small indeed. This is especially true for gall mites. Most are less than 1mm long. Yet it is very easy to determine whether they are there are not. Because where they sit on a plant, the plant reacts by showing an abnormal growth or swelling at that place. Such a swelling or growth is called a gall. Best known are the round, reddish balls on the leaves of oak. Galls may appear on the twig of a plant as well. Sometimes galls get quite big, in particular those on twigs. These galls are made up of very small leaves and twigs growing like a mistletoe. These bigger galls on twigs are called witches' brooms. Not only mites can cause galls. There are many other creatures capable of causing galls: gall flies, gall wasps, certain beetles, some moths and barklice. Even some fungi may cause galls! In many cases one can determine which creature caused the gall by looking at the gall itself! And that is a good way of identfying many small creatures, without the need to trace them down and put them under the microscope. Below a typical witches' broom. It can be seen on Broom regularly and when appearing often in considerable numbers. The galls are not very big, around 2 cm, but striking. They are caused by a very small mite: Aceria genistae.

This witches' broom on broom is caused by a tiny mite: Aceria genistae.

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Meshweb Spiders (Dictynidae)

Meshweb Spiders (Dictynidae)

Meshweb Spiders (Dictynidae)

This family of small spiders (most are some 2 to 4 mm only) is also known as Cribellate Spiders or Mesh-webbed Spiders. Many species are attractively coloured and well marked. Even in the field identifying them is sometimes possible. In some cases down to genus level only, though. They build a small, robust web, usually on leaves and wait for their prey underneath. For animals as small as these spiders, the prey is often very big indeed. The females are exceptionally gentle with the males. After mating they often live together for a couple of weeks, until he dies. Only then she will eat him, but not always. The green species below is easily identified. The animal in the picture is a male. The female has a light green thorax. The markings on the abdomen differ clearly from those on the abdomen of other green species, such as the Cucumber Spider and Diaea dorsata, a Crab Spider. The web is usually build on big leaves. In spite of the colour rarely seen. In the Benelux area this is a common species. In England a very local species, found in London among other places.

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Crab Spiders (Thomisidae)

Crab Spiders (Thomisidae)

Crab Spiders (Thomisidae)

This family of spiders is always split up in two subfamilies: the Crab Spiders (Thomisinae) and the Running Crab Spiders (Philodrominae). Scientists don't agree whether it is correct to distinguish two subfamilies or that there are two separate families all together. Still, most believe in just one family. By the scientific name it is always easy to tell families and subfamilies apart: the names of families always end in '-dae', while the name of a subfamily always ends in '-nae'.
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Crab Spiders (Thomisinae)

Crab Spiders (Thomisinae)

Crab Spiders (Thomisinae)

The crabspiders are a group of very colourful spiders that live in flowers and stalk, or wait motionless for their prey. Their poison is very deadly to insects as it kills the vicim almost instantenously. Crabspiders have rather long legs and often walk sidewards, just like crabs do. They are smaller than the well known Garden Spider. Some species of Crab spiders can even change their colour adjusting it to the colour of the flower or plant they live on.

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Below a Crab Spider species that comes in various colours (it can even be striped!). In Dutch it is called the Chameleon Crab Spider. The animal in the picture does still have some colour around the eyes. The spider can be found in most larger gardens, but it is not as common as the European Garden Spider is. Some male Crab Spiders use a particular defensive tactics: they envelop the females prior to mating. The female can't move for a while and thus are unable to eat the male!

The Goldenrod Crab Spider (Misumena vatia), one of the best camouflaged spiders.

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Some 12 species of Crab Spiders in the genus Ozyptila have been discovered in Europe. These are all small spiders, reaching a length of 3 to 4 mm only. Most common among them is the Leaflitter Crab Spider below. It prefers woodlands. There it hunts for small prey on the forest floor in shady places. The eggs are laid in a cocoon. This cocoon is often attached to the underside of leaves of twigs, high up in trees or shrubs. The female guards the eggs until they hatch. A common species all over Europe. Has been introduced in Northern America. Nowadays it is a local species over there, probably still spreading.

TheLeaflitter Crab Spider (Ozyptila praticola)http://www.gardensafari.net/english/picpages/ozyptila_praticola.htm is a common species in Europe and a local species in Northern America.

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The Flat Crabspider is a rather weird creature. When we saw it the first time we really thought it was some kind of tick we had never seen before. It is extremely flat and looks to be starved, but all books confirm, that is the way it always looks like. It can hide in smaller places than any other spider of its size. This is a spider preferring woodlands and forest edges and clearings. We do not know whether this is a British species, for little was found on the internet about it.

This Flat Crabspider (Coriarachne depressa) appears to be in constant starvation.

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Running Crab Spiders (Philodrominae)

Running Crab Spiders (Philodrominae)

Running Crab Spiders (Philodrominae)

In Western Europe Running Crab Spiders (they are also known as Agile Crab Spiders) belong to the genus Philodromus. In the Benelux alone there are at least 17 species. Without careful microscopic study most can not be identified, as they all look alike while all species vary. The colour means absolutely nothing, for like all crab spiders individuals can change their colour completely within a few days.

Two running crab spiders (Philodromus sp.) that can not be identified from a picture alone.
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Running Crab Spiders (Philodrominae)

Running Crab Spiders (Philodrominae)

In Western Europe Running Crab Spiders (they are also known as Agile Crab Spiders) belong to the genus Philodromus. In the Benelux alone there are at least 17 species. Without careful microscopic study most can not be identified, as they all look alike while all species vary. The colour means absolutely nothing, for like all crab spiders individuals can change their colour completely within a few days.

These species (Philodromus sp.) belong to the Running Crab Spiders as well.

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Running Crab Spiders (Philodrominae)

Running Crab Spiders (Philodrominae)

The species below is known as the House Crab Spider. In autumn it is regularly found on or even inside houses and buildings. Usually it measures around 5 mm. It can be seen from early spring (April) through autumn (October). Feeding on flies and other small insects it lives in low vegetation and open spots and is especially fond of grass. The females (below) are brown with distinct markings, the males are almost entirely black. In Britain this is a common species in England and Southern Wales. But it has a vast territory and can be found in most of Europe, Northern Asia. It has also been introduced in the USA, where it is now well established. In the picture to the left it is near a Birch Catkin Bug, but the two showed no interest in oneanother.

This is a female House Crab Spider http://www.gardensafari.net/en_picpages/philodromus_dispar.htm (Philodromus dispar). The males are black and look like another species all together.

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Wolf Spiders (Lycosidae)

Wolf Spiders (Lycosidae)

Wolf Spiders (Lycosidae)


There are quite some Wolf Spider species in Western Europe. They are all brownish spiders that can often be found in considerable numbers. In case of spiders this is quite remarkable because they are usually quite solitary not being able to tolerate another spiders' presence. The fact that these spiders often live in packs and their brown colours gave them the name of Wolf Spider. In Western Europe there are some 100 species. It is not easy to identify them correctly. Especially the genus Pardosa, often found in gardens, has many look-a-likes.


Wolf Spiders are very common, even appearing in very small gardens. Here you see two Pardosa sp.

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