The Spiders of Great Britain and Ireland - Pt.1 : Text (Compact ed)

This is the first of a two-part compact edition, in which the two text volumes of the 1987 three-volume work have been combined.

The preliminary chapters, providing a general introduction to arachnology, include morphology and behaviour, classification and nomenclature, and a key to the families.

These are followed by short descriptions of all the British species in the condensed text, written principally to help their identification, although information on habitat and distribution is also included.

Especially significant are the many comparative line drawings of critical features, principally genitalia but also carapaces and other structures, by which the species may be determined. The author has added an appendix which includes descriptions and text figures of seven species new to Britain since 1987, and a few amendments to the original text, necessitated by subsequent research and nomenclatural changes.