When I read in my guide book that spiders of the genus Anyphaena, which my find definitely looked like (those dark markings on its abdomen are distinctive), required ‘microscopic examination of the genitalia … to distinguish between the species’, I thought to myself ‘Oh, no, not again!’ Fortunately, this time things were actually a little more straight forward than that statement implied, as the other two species are rare and currently confined to known areas in and around London. So, I submitted my record and it’s now been confirmed.

This handsome spider is Anyphaena accentuata, a buzzing spider. They’re called buzzing spiders because, during courtship, the male vibrates its abdomen against a leaf, which results in a high-pitched buzzing sound – a novel way to attract a female, to be sure. These spiders are mostly found in woodland and well-vegetated locations, where they live, hunt and mate amongst the leaves. Anyphaena accentuata is currently found mostly in the southern half of Britain, though it does appear to be expanding its range slowly northwards.