Irish spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) collected during a five-year, island-wide study including 696 new county records

Abstract

This paper presents new county records from one of the largest studies of Irish spiders to date. Habitats surveyed included peatlands, grasslands and plantation forests of various ages and tree species. Pitfall traps were used to sample spiders and specimens were also identified from Malaise traps and a DVac Suction sampler in a subset of sites. Over half of the known Irish spider species were sampled (219 species) and 696 new county records are presented. Many of the species with new county records were associated with forested habitats indicating the lack of previous research in this habitat type. It is recommended that spider sampling should continue in a variety of habitat types across a wide geographical range if a full Irish species distribution is to be realised