A spider enthusiast is asking people to help him gather information about the island’s arachnids.

James Dernie, who’s 31 and lives in Port Erin, has set up a Facebook group named the Eight Legs of Mann.

He said: ’I was surprised to see so many Manxies loving our eight-legged friends.

’I like to find and document as many species of spider across the island as I can and I upload the images to the Eight Legs of Mann Facebook page.’

He said that his interest in spiders began only in 2017.

’I originally set up The Eight Legs of Mann group in 2018 to try and pique interest on the island and it has been incredible to see the growth of the group to 600 members who all contribute to and support the page.

’It’s great to show and share how interesting these little critters actually are.

’We have all sorts of people in our group including tarantula lovers, pest removal employers, artists who provide fantastic artwork for group and even people who are terrified of spiders and use the page to help them overcome their fears.’

Mr Dernie said that spiders help the ecosystem and are part of the food chain.

They have big appetites and eat a lot of insects, including house flies.

’Spiders are also used for science,’ he said. ’Spider’s venom is used in medicine and recent studies on spider silk and silk structure has led to designs and ideas for new products such as military vests and parachutes.’

What type of spiders do we have on the Isle of Man?

’Apart from the rare imported tropical spider that shows up on a banana or a bunch of grapes from the local supermarket (which I have actually seen twice so far), we don’t currently have any spiders on the Isle of Man that can cause any harm to us,’ Mr Dernie said.

’I am lucky enough to have seen a variety of spiders on the Isle of Man (all documented in the Eight Legs of Mann albums).

’One particular memory that stands out is when I saw my favourite type, cave spiders (Meta Menardi), in Laxey.

’This particular spider lives in pure darkness and is very territorial when disturbed.

’As I was taking a quick snap in the dark in among the nest situated in a closed confined room, I didn’t realise at the time, but a spider had landed on my head. I realised only when I saw the picture afterwards.

’I have also seen the more pleasant cucumber spider (bright green) at the Gooseneck and the fascinating jumping spiders (a very intelligent species) at Gansey.

He is appealing for people to join his Facebook site to document spiders.