Ahoy shipmates!

This is a backblip from yesterday (no decent internet connection on my phone last night). A very unusual capture, taken in a coastal dune slack pond behind Newport beach in Pembrokeshire, of a spider on aquatic vegetation, carrying all of its young spiderlings on its abdomen. Luckily, I have a copy of the Collins field guide to spiders of Britain & N. Europe, by Michael J. Roberts and my best effort to identify this spider is that it is a member of Family Lycosidae, probably genus Pirata and, from its colouration and habitat, may be the wonderfully named Pirata piraticus - I think a translation might be 'Piratical pirate'! Very appropriate, as the species often runs across the water surface of ponds or pools to catch and feed on insects on or below the water. I was very lucky to spot this female spider carrying her young (newly-hatched) spiderling family in this way as, having carried her eggs underneath her abdomen until they hatched, the spiderlings would have swarmed up onto her abdomen where they will only stay for up to a week. This is a very common behaviour in spiders of the Lycosidae Family (according to my book). When I spotted this one, I had no idea what was covering her rear end - it actually looked like she was carrying moss! It was only when I zoomed into the photo later that I realised what was going on! I feel very privileged to have observed this tiny arachnid family during their brief window of togetherness. And I only spotted this as I had climbed over a fence to retrieve a ball I had mis-thrown for our dog...