Spider survey to measure the biodiversity in UK homes

Home owners are being asked to overcome their fear of spiders in order to help carry out the first nationwide survey of the insects.
Louise Gray, The Telegraph 25 Sep 09;

For the last two summers invertebrates have struggled because of the rain washing away nests and making it impossible to feed.

However this year the conditions have been more favourable with warm temperatures and shorter wet spells.

Spiders have had a particularly good year and are a good indicator of how wider species are doing because they feed on other insects.

Buglife, the insect charity, are asking householders to report the number of spiders spotted in and around the home this weekend in order to find out how well the insects are doing.

There are some 600 species of spider in Britain and they are particularly visible this time of year as the adults get fat with eggs and the new generation are hatching.

Mr Shardlow said urged people to get over their fears in order to help conservationists.

"We hope people can overcome to some degree their fears and look out for this important invertebrate over the weekend and learn about the spider, which are harmless animals that keep our homes free of flies and other creatures we do not want."

This year has seen an explosion of some butterflies and common insects like ladybirds, wasps and daddy longlegs

But specialist species that rely on particular habitat like wetland or heath such as the fen raft spider and ladybird spider are still struggling, said Mr Shardlow.

"It has been a good year this year for insects. Which is great news for biodiversity as we had a lot of bad years recently," he said.

More spiders expected this autumn
More spiders and daddy longlegs are expected in homes and gardens this autumn because recent weather has provided favourable breeding conditions.
Alastair Jamieson, The Telegraph 25 Sep 09;

Experts say the mild summer, which was warmer than recent years, is likely to have boosted the number of spiders, which traditionally head indoors at this time of year.

Last year’s wet autumn will also have helped daddy longlegs by providing the perfect conditions for larvae in the soil.

Insect conservation charity, Buglife, insisted the expected surge in spider numbers was good news even thought their presence in homes is usually greeted with horror.

Matt Shardlow, chief executive of the charity, said it could also slow the decline of some insect species.

“Without spiders we would be overrun with flies and other pests,” he said. “If people really can’t tolerate them they can use a jam jar and a piece of paper to put them outside rather than killing them.

“Last year's damp autumn was good for the larvae of crane files, which people know as daddy longlegs, because it there was plenty of food in the soil.

“The summer has also been good for spiders because we didn’t have too much extreme weather, just the humid and temperate weather spiders like.

“Unless there is a severe cold snap in the next few days we can expect to see a lot more spiders than coming indoors over the next two or three weeks compared to last year.”

He added that daddy longlegs were “very important for biodiversity because their larvae improve soil.

Buglife is appealing for households to survey the number of spiders appearing over the next two weekends and submit the results.

John Partridge, secretary of British Arachnological Society, told the BBC: "It is this time of year that people become more aware of them – it is the silly season for spiders.

“The garden spiders are getting fatter for laying eggs and bundles of tiny spiders start hatching," he said.

He said there are some 600 species of spider in Britain and it was important to remember the service they provided.