Spider Fauna of the Heaths and Fens of West Suffolk

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TRANSACTIONS THE SPIDER FAUNA OF THE HEATHS AND FENS IN WEST SUFFOLK B y E R I C DUFFEY, G . H .

LOCKET a n d A . F .

MILLIDGE

T h e sandy breck country so well known to East Anglian naturalists Covers a considerable area in north-west Suffolk and south-west Norfolk and borders the eastern edge of the Fenland Basin. Although chiefly famous for the rare plants and animals of the arid heaths, the district has a rieh diversity of habitat from the sandy uplands to the woodlands and fens of the river Valleys. Consequently distinetive plant and animal communities may be found almost side by side. Three main river Valleys cross the brecks, draining westwards to the Cambridgeshire and Norfolk fens : the Wissey, Little Ouse and Lark, all tributaries to the River Ouse. Most of the collections of spiders referred to in this paper were taken on the heaths and fens of the Lark Valley, which is one of the most attractive and interesting areas in West Suffolk. Reclamation has made rapid progress in the Lark valley and only isolated relics are left of the fens which in the past must have been continuous with the marshes of the Fenland basin. T h e same applies to the Breck heaths which even thirty to forty years ago probably extended for many miles on either side of the river valley. T h e rapid rate at which these unique formations are disappearing makes the study of the natural history of the remaining sites of special importance and will also help to strengthen the case for preservation. Although there are many scattered references in the literature to the invertebrates of these places, there has been little effort to bring them together to illustrate the distinetive nature of the fauna. T h e spiders in particular have been little studied and the only contribution of note is the paper by Dr. W. S. Bristowe (1940). I n May, 1956, the three of us collected on several heaths and fens in the Lark valley area and on the Fenland margin, and this material together with other collections made by one of us (E.D.) during the period 1953 to 1957 forms the basis of the observations in this paper.


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