Cornish nature search reveals new spider species
The spider was among over 500 species found and identified during BioBlitz 2023. Credit: Finley Hutchinson
A spider species previously unknown to science has been discovered on the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall.
Several tiny jumping spiders were collected during the annual BioBlitz nature survey last year.
Spider experts thought the species was unlikely to be a Cornish native, and sent it to Dmitri Logunov, Europe’s leading jumping spider expert, at Manchester Museum.
No record of the species was found anywhere in the world – but it is related to other species known in the Caribbean, so probably arrived in the UK on imported plants.
The species has been named Anasaitis milesae.
“The spider was among over 500 species we found and identified during BioBlitz 2023,” said co-organiser Finley Hutchinson, a BSc Conservation Biology and Ecology student at the University of Exeter.
“A few of these spiders were found by members of the public during the sweep-netting event I ran as part of BioBlitz.
“I hadn’t seen anything like them before, and neither had Cornish spider expert Tylan Berry.
“So Tylan went out and found some more later the same day, and he and I collected many more from tree ferns near Lime Avenue on campus a couple of weeks later.”
Specimens were then sent to Logunov, who quickly confirmed they matched nothing in Europe.
Hutchinson continued: “The jumping spider family is the largest spider family in the world, so narrowing it down beyond that took much longer.
“However, eventually he identified them as a member of the Caribbean genus Anasaitis, but not a known species.
“So, strangely, this species has not been formally identified in its native range – so the only records in the world are on the Penryn Campus, and another recent record in Penzance.”
Although there is no common name for the species, Berry has been calling it the ‘Tremough Jumper’.
”It’s quite amazing that a new species to science has been found in the UK” Berry said.
“This very rarely happens in modern times as the county is very well studied as far as spiders go. Who knew a pretty little 4mm jumping spider would be hiding in front of our eyes?”
This year’s BioBlitz Penryn – which is free and open to everyone – will take place on Saturday 4 May on the Penryn Campus.
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