SBIS holds spider lists for several of the major reserves, much of the recording was done by Eric Duffey in the 1960s. There is a species-based card index of all records published in TSNS. Paul Lee has computerised most spider records on his own copy of RECORDER. There are over 10,000 records on the SBIS Database.
Further information on recording and identification can be found on the British Arachnological Society (BAS) website. See also the Spider Recording Scheme (SRS) pages.
Suffolk's most famous spider must be the Fen Raft Spider Dolomedes plantarius. One of the rarest species in the UK; they were first discovered at the SWT’s Redgrave and Lopham Fen reserve in 1956.
Basic Suffolk Checklist on Recorder
Major Publications
The Arachnida of Suffolk. W.S. Bristowe (1940 TSNS 4: 156)
Spider Fauna of the Heaths and Fens of West Suffolk. E. Duffey, G.H. Locket & A.F Millidge (1959 TSNS 10: 3)
Spiders from Redgrave, Lopham and Hopton Fens in the Waveney and Little Ouse Valleys. E.A.G. Duffey (1961)
A Preliminary Account of the Spiders of the Flatford Mill Region. J.A.L. Cooke (1962 TSNS 12: 155)
A review of Suffolk pseudoscorpions (With an original drawing by W. A. Thomhill). H. Mendel (1981 TSNS 18: 226)
The spiders of Suffolk. A. Russell-Smith (1981 TSNS 18: 213)
The study of spiders and some recent records of interesting spiders found in Suffolk. W.A Thornhill (1981 TSNS 18: 149)
Other papers from Suffolk Natural History
Keep an eye out for this cellar spider new to Suffolk. P. Lee & R. Garrod (2017) Open
Spider Recorder’s Report 2012. P. Lee (2013) Open
Nigma walckenaeri (Roewer, 1951) (Arachnida: Dictynidae) new to Suffolk. A. Knowles (2010) Open
Spider Recorder’s Annual Report, 2008. P. Lee (2009) Open
Spider Recorder’s Report, 2006 ... . P. Lee (2007) Open
Spider Recorder’s annual Report 2005. P. Lee (2006) Open
Spider Recorder’s Report, 2004 ... . P. Lee (2005) Open
Spider Recorder’s Annual Report, 2003. P. Lee (2004) Open
Spider Recorder’s Annual Report, 2002. P. Lee (2003) Open
Spider Recorder’s Report, 2001 P. Lee (2002) Open
Spider Recorder’s Annual Report 2000. P. Lee (2001) Open
Spider Recorder’s Report 1999. P. Lee (2000) Open
The Spiders of RAF Mildenhall. P. Lee (2000) Open
Spiders. W.A. Thornhill (1999) Open
The first recorded occurrence of the harvestman, Nelima gothica Lohmander in East Anglia. P. Lee (1991) Open
Pseudoscorpions. H. Mendel (1987) p.71 Open
The distribution of the Great Raft Spider, Dolomedes plantarius, on Redgrave and Lopham Fens. W.A. Thornhill (1985) Open
A few more records of Pseudoscorpions including a species new to Suffolk. H. Mendel (1982) Open
The Distribution of some rare Breckland Spiders. E.A.G. Duffey (1965) Open
Some Spiders New to Suffolk: i Areneae. Hull; ii Chlonethida. O. Gilbert & J.E. Hull (1947) Open
For images of Suffolk Priority species see our Pinterest Board
Help with species identification
- Spider Recording Scheme
- Families of British Spiders Key
- Steven Falk Flickr Arachnida
- Spiders of Europe
- Spiders of Belgium and France
- Spiders of North-West Europe
- World Spider Catalog
- British Spider Identification Facebook Group
- British Spiders Facebook Group
- Harvestmen of Norfolk
- Harvestmen of Britain and Ireland FSC Identikit
- Dutch Harvestmen
- Paul Richards Flickr UK Harvestmen
- UK Harvestman Facebook Group
- UK Pseudoscorpions
- Pseudoscorpions UK Facebook Group
- Ticks
- Bristol University Tick ID
- YouTube Playlist of Spider & Harvestman courses