There are few
officially reported records of this non-native spider,
yet it is often encountered in boxes of crickets or
locusts (live food) intended for use as food for a number
of exotic pets. It is unable to survive outdoors, so will
only ever be encountered in houses and petshops etc.
There have undoubtedly been previous occurrences of Thanatus
vulgaris in Nottinghamshire, but none seem to have
been reported. So this one we found inside a box of
locusts at Market Warsop in September 2018, may well be
the county's first reported record. |