Ever since I was knee high I’ve had an obsessive compulsion for knowledge about the natural world. So when someone stares into a reedbed and says to me “Do you want to see something really rare?” I would have to say “Yes”.
The other week I saw an example of Marpissa radiata shaken from a reed head into the palm of a guy’s hand. No, I’d never heard of it either. It transpires it’s one of the Jumping Spiders. There are around 5000 different jumping spiders and M.radiata is just one of them, but it’s quite rare … apparently.
Any which way I’m grateful to the chap that pointed it out to my guests and I.
Marpissa radiata … you’d think they would give it a more catchy name wouldn’t you.
Letter From Norfolk 