Your questions on nature answered
I came across several webs (photo enclosed) of a funnel web spider while hiking near the coast at Cross, Kilbaha, Co Clare. I did not see any spider. Can you tell me anything about this spider? Bill Ryan, Cross, Co Clare.
Ireland has two families of spiders that spin webs with an open hub in the centre, in vegetation or at ground level: Tetragnathids and Methids. Two members of the latter, Metellina segmentata and Metellina mengei spin at ground level, as in your photo. But it could also fit the Tetragnathids if the web was at an angle in the vegetation. The spider either hides in the hub or under a leaf nearby.
We found hundreds ofby-the-wind-sailors on Roundstone beaches, and I saw on the Web that they were observed in the Atlanticas far north as Cape Hatteras. Were they driven up here by the Gulf Stream or the Americanhurricanes?
Marion Sivers, Roundstone, Co Galway Velella drifts with the ocean currents but is also driven by the prevailing winds, and the hurricanes no doubt helped to round up the millions that arrived at these shores.