Individual accounts cover 404 species—all of Britain’s “macro” spiders and the larger money spiders, with the limitations to field identification clearly explained. A comprehensively updated edition of an identification guide that was named a Guardian Best Nature Book of the Year Now in a comprehensively revised and updated new edition, Britain’s Spiders is a guide to all 38 of the British families, focussing on spiders that can be identified in the field.

Individual accounts cover 404 species – all of Britain's "macro" spiders and the larger money spiders, with the limitations to field identification clearly explained. The first 97 pages are all about the biology, webs, habitats and behaviour, the other 350+ pages cover the hundreds of species that come in all shapes, colours and sizes. The common crab spider is most frequently seen from March to August all over the country and their prefered habitat is low-lying vegetation. This revised edition of Britain’s Spiders a field guide is a guide to all 38 of the British families, focusing on spiders that can be identified in the field, as well as separate guides to webs and egg-sacs.The Species Accounts are clear and concise, helped by the superb color photographs which accompany them.

Illustrated with a remarkable collection of photographs, it is designed to be accessible to a wide audience, including those new to spider identification. As with many UK taxa, knowledge changes and in the case of spiders things have moved on very quickly.Geoff Oxford is a biologist at the University of York and an authority on both colour variation and speciation in spiders. The maps show how apparently uncommon some species are - is this really the case, or are they under-recorded?

A guide to spider families, based on features recognizable in the field, focussing on body shape and other characteristics, as well as separate guides to webs and egg-sacs. Individual accounts cover 395 of Britain's approximately 670 species, with the limitations to field identification clearly explained. Individual accounts cover 404 species - all of Britain’s ‘macro’ spiders and the larger money spiders, with the limitations to field identification clearly explained. Distinguishable by the four white spots on their orbs, this is one UK spider species where the females are double the size of the males, at 17mm. This book is full of usefully information for an id guide and I particularly enjoy the line on the top of the page for each species which indicates the size of the spider, this is essential l tool that all invertebrate id guides should have.The drawings of the male pedipalps and female epigynes are, with few exceptions, stunningly accurate, making identification relatively straightforward once past the initial stages, given a methodical and patient approach. Rather than catching its prey in a web, it attacks flies and mosquitoes by spitting a mixture of sticky silk to capture them. Cardinal spiders can survive for months without food and got their name from a 14th Century legend claiming that Cardinal Wolsey saw one in Hampton Court and was scared of it. Mike Norton, Trade and Projects Director at Magnet Trade, says: "Like all species, spiders need water and moisture to survive. This is the UK's heaviest spider and they prefer a habitat of gardens, wooded areas, marshes or long grassland.

Geoff Oxford , a biologist who taught at the University of York for more than four decades, is an authority on spider colour variation and speciation. All in all, a very useful and informative guide, and a significant addition to books on Britain's spiders. this book has scientific names for all species though out and most of them also have a common names too.A book like this has been missing from the UK market (the last photographic fieldguide was published in 1989 is out of print and this/other illustrated guides are often unsatisfactory in placing spiders to species level, at least without keeping specimens), hard to understand for such a popular group. I am a complete novice to knowing about spiders in and around Britain , but this book I have to say is fantastic, I bet even someone who knows a thing or two about these little scurrying things would enjoy it.