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The 'Garden Centre' Spider

Colin Howes (Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union Spider Recorder) wrote the following article in October 2007 about an interesting little spider that has recently turned up in the Scarborough district.  Local garden centres are a good place to start looking for them, and he would be interested in receiving any further records - you can reach him on his email address of Colin.Howes@Doncaster.gov.uk .

 

Click on any of the pictures below to open a larger version in a new window.

 

 

 The ‘Garden Centre’ Spider Uloborus plumipes in The Scarborough region 

 

The elegant (and not at all scary) little spider Uloborus plumipes, which hang upside down and motionless in its ‘cat’s cradle’ web, is easily identified by its triangular and lumpy abdomen and pair of long, ornate (plumed) front legs which are characteristically extended forwards.

 

With a world distribution extending from the countries of the Mediterranean basin, east to south-east Asia and south to Sub-Saharan Africa, it is now being spread around the globe by the international trade in exotic houseplants. Although introduced into Western Europe and now Britain, its presence in these cooler latitudes is largely restricted to the heated tropical houseplant sections of garden centres, botanic gardens or winter gardens … the ‘greenhouse effect’! Ventilation is shunned and mere nurseries won’t do. Hothouse enthusiasts will be relieved to hear that this ‘Garden Centre Spider’ feeds on tiny midge-sized insects and is likely to take a hand in controlling ‘whitefly’ (Trialeurodes vaporariorum).

 

This small alien spider first began to be noticed in garden centres in southern England in the early 1990s. By 2000 it had reached South Yorkshire via a consignment of coconut palms (Cocos nucifera) marketed by a popular DIY and Garden Centre chain.

 

Though various Scarborough district garden centres were checked out in 2001 no signs were encountered till October 2005 when a population had become established in the heated semi-tropical house-plant section at Dean's Garden Centre, Seamer Road (TA/031852). In October 2006 specimens were noticed in the heated house-plant section at B&Q DIY and Garden Centre, Bridlington (TA175667) and in August 2007 specimens were present at the Irton Garden Centre (TA/010847).

 

I would be interested to hear of any additional sites positive or negative in the Scarborough region (Whitby to Bridlington).

 

Colin Howes (Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union Spider Recorder) 

email: Colin.Howes@Doncaster.gov.uk 

Uloborus plumipes

 

dark form of spider

 

egg cocoons