Get Involved > Wildlife surveys > The Buglife Spider Hunt
The Buglife Spider Hunt
This autumn we need you to search for spiders! But you don't need to go out into the countryside - we want you to take part in the Buglife Spider Hunt in your own home and garden.
| UPDATE - Tuesday 13 October The survey has now finished. Thank you to everyone who took part in the Buglife Spider Hunt 2009! We will report back on the results here on the Buglife Website shortly! If you are interested in supporting our conservation work please Join us! It costs from just £18 per year. |
Are there more spiders in and around our homes than usual this year? What types of spiders are the main ones we are seeing? Have you got a rarer species living literally on your doorstep? This is the type of information we want to gather for the 2009 Buglife Spider Hunt!
We want you to take part in the Hunt, submit your results online and we will then report back!
How to take part
Step 1 - Pick your weekend
| We want you to do your spider hunting over a weekend - from Friday evening through to Sunday evening. Don’t worry – you don’t have to spend the whole weekend spider hunting! Just tell us about the spiders you saw as you went about your usual business, and spend some time having a look in each room of your home, your garden and any outbuildings you have (such as a shed or garage). There are two weekends when you can do the Hunt:
Friday 25 September - Sunday 27 September or
Friday 2 October - Sunday 4 October |
Step 2 - Download the Spider Spotting Guide
| The Spotting Guide will enable to you to identify your spiders and note down how many you have seen. We suggest you print it off so that you can take it around your home and garden while you search. We will want to know the total number of each type of spider you saw over the weekend There will be 10 types of spider in the Hunt, and you can tell us about any others you saw too Click here to download the Spider Spotting Guide (PDF 216KB) |
Step 3 - Start the Hunt!
| Start your Hunt on Friday evening. You should log the number of spiders you see in and around your home. If you have them, this includes:
-Your garden/yard
-Sheds and other outhouses
-Garages Some spiders will be very obvious (e.g. running across your floor, or climbing your wall) and some you will need to seek out as best you can. Look in dark corners, under furniture, and in cracks and crevices. Many spiders will only come out at night so try to do some of your searching when it is getting dark! Don’t worry – you only need to spend a little time over the weekend actually looking for spiders. Most of the time you’ll just notice them as you go about your usual business. Note: If you are lucky enough to spot any rarer spiders or a spider in an area it hasn’t been seen before, please try to take a digital photo of this if you can. We may need to get in touch for further details and a photo would be very helpful to confirm the type of spider you’ve seen! The Buglife Spider Hunt is something everyone can take part in - youngsters will enjoy spider hunting too! Finish spider hunting on Sunday evening (the same time as you started on Friday evening). |
Step 4 - Fill in the online form
| To take part in the Buglife Spider Hunt you will need to fill in our online form. Click here to submit the results of your spider hunt! IMPORTANT - All results must be submitted by Monday 12 October |
