Of the twenty-one species of British harvest spiders twenty have 

 been recorded from Kent. Their vertical distribution is well marked 

 and they can be divided into three groups thus — (A) seven species which 

 live on the ground in moss, under old logs and at the base of the sward. 

 These species live in this habitat the whole year round. (B) Nine species 

 inhabiting low vegetation, but in their young stages they are found with 

 the first group. (C) Four species which as adults are found on bushes, 

 trees, walls and fences, etc. The young occur with group A. Occas- 

 sionally an adult from group B is found in the habitat of group C and 

 vica versa, but the species of the three groups show a very marked pre- 

 ference for their usual habitats. 



The remaining species falls within group B but it appears to be 

 confined to Ireland (including Eire) and the western seaboard of Britain 

 (2). 



This kind of distribution I prefer to call vertical as distinct from 

 lateral which indicates the range of a species and which tells us little of 

 its habitat. 



The lateral distribution of British harvest-spiders also shows some 

 interesting features. Of the twenty Kentish species only one is confined 

 to a single kind of habitat (3, 7). The ground-living Trogulus tricarinatus 

 L. is known only from Chalk country (3, 7). 



Several species are markedly more abundant in Chalky ground and 

 Anelasmocephalus cambridgei (Westwood), Homalenotus quadridentatus 

 (Cuvier) and Nemastoma lugubre (MiJller) all belonging to group A are 

 outstandingly so. 



Of the lateral distribution of the remaining species four only call for 

 special comment. Oligolophus meadii Cambridge is essentially a harvest- 

 spider of drier habitats than most others ; it is most abundant in open 

 heathy situations on acid soils and on some sand dunes ; it is occasionally 

 taken on the Chalk Downs where the soil is well drained. O. meadii is a 

 ground-living species and is not infrequently found in the same habitat 

 as Opilio saxatilis (C. L. Koch) which however is decidedly more wide- 

 spread and abundant. The latter also shows a preference for well 

 drained soils and is characteristic of most sand dunes. 



Oligolophus hansenii (Kraepelin) is closely related to the ubiquitous 

 and abundant O. agrestis (Meade) and is invariably found in association 

 with it in those places where it occurs ; it is typically a tree-living species 

 favouring pines. O. hansenii is therefore characteristic of heathland 

 where this tree occurs. 



Odiellus spinosus (Bosc) is the largest of the British harvest-spiders ; 

 it is intimately associated with man-made structures and has never been 

 recorded away from gardens, horticultural land, etc. where it sits on 

 sheds, walls and fences. The young stages occur in close proximity to 

 the places in which the adults are found. 



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