Monocephalus fuscipes

This was in a pitfall trap (in propylene glycol, so no live photos) along a beetle bank in an arable field. As I don't have much experience with Linnyphiids I showed the pedipalps photos to ObsIdentify to get a starting point (as has worked in the past) but none of its suggestions matched. I tried with the photo of the whole spider too, but that was useless. Next I tried checking the other species that I knew had been recorded there (including those picked up through eDNA analysis as part of the same project). None of those matched either. None of my spider books cover Linnyphiidae in detail so after checking a few other things I resorted to asking via social media. Andrew Douglas was quick to answer and Richard at Cofnod soon confirmed. I learned that this species should show a distinctive lump on the head which I hadn't noticed but sure enough, looking at the head sideways this was obvious. I'm now armed with a copy of Roberts and some tables which should help my future Linnyphidae ID efforts (big thanks to those who assisted).

male Monocephalus fuscipes showing front of head from side (2 views) and pedipalps (4 views), Wendling Beck Environment Project (Norfolk, UK), 29th to 31st March 2024