FOREIGN SPIDERS IN FOLKESTONE 



TN 1950 a large spider, obviously not British, was found in Folkestone 

 -■- not far from a fruit store. Last summer two similar spiders were 

 found in the town, a male at Cheriton and a female in Sandgate Road. 

 These have been submitted to the expert at the British Museum of 

 Natural History who pronounced them to be Heteropoda venatoria, 

 a species common in tropical and sub-tropical regions and now and 

 again brought into this country with cargoes of bananas. Its bite is 

 painful without being dangerous and the male is rarer than the female, 

 possibly because, as happens with some spiders, the female eats the 

 male. The two specimens are now in the Folkestone Museum. 



A. M. MORLEY, O.B.E., M.A. 



NATTERJACK (Bufo Calamita) 



'T'HE Natterjack Bufo calamita is a most interesting and fascinating 

 little toad. I saw one for the first time on the Saltholm Island not 

 far from Copenhagen. He was hiding in the grass and about to run 

 away, for a Natterjack does not hop nor crawl. 



He is smaller than the Common Toad and is recognised easily by 

 the distinctive yellow line that runs along the centre of the head and 

 back. The skin though warty is smooth and brownish green in colour. 

 Both sexes are of about the same size, the maximum length of head and 

 body being three inches. 



The Natterjack which is common in S.W. Ireland and is found in 

 England and Wales, breeds later than the common species, not beginning 

 before the end of April. The chosen locality is advertised by the noise 

 of the males, a loud trilling croak continued for a few seconds at a time 

 and of sufficient power to be heard a mile away. 



The Natterjack is mainly nocturnal but will often bask in the sun. 

 In the Autumn the males hibernate first, sometimes climbing to the 

 holes of Sand Martins. 



S. Johnson Bird. 



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