Living with Ants - _TNY_6326 (In Explore 3/11 2023)
Here is a rather small spider which I found on the side of my mom's summer house in Värmdö, Sweden on a cold October day.
I haven't been able to get a final verdict on the species, but it looks like it could be Mastigusa arietina.
This species has no common English name (and hasn't been spotted in the UK or over a hundred years), but the Swedish name "myrstacksspindel" translats into "anthill spider". As the name implies, this species live inside colonies of some Lasius genus ants. Among those species are Lasius brunneus, a brownish species which like to build their nests a bit up in oak trees. This fits nicely with the house being built underneath two tall oaks.
Living with Ants - _TNY_6326 (In Explore 3/11 2023)
Here is a rather small spider which I found on the side of my mom's summer house in Värmdö, Sweden on a cold October day.
I haven't been able to get a final verdict on the species, but it looks like it could be Mastigusa arietina.
This species has no common English name (and hasn't been spotted in the UK or over a hundred years), but the Swedish name "myrstacksspindel" translats into "anthill spider". As the name implies, this species live inside colonies of some Lasius genus ants. Among those species are Lasius brunneus, a brownish species which like to build their nests a bit up in oak trees. This fits nicely with the house being built underneath two tall oaks.