Exotic spiders flourishing in Britain as new jumping species found in Cornwall

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Among new arrivals are the green-fanged tube web spider , which first got a foothold in Bristol and can now be found across southern Britain.Among new arrivals are the green-fanged tube web spider , which first got a foothold in Bristol and can now be found across southern Britain.Some are small and jumpy; others are large and intimidating – if you’re a humble housefly.

The new species of jumping spider was discovered by Tylan Berry, Devon and Cornwall area organiser for the British Arachnological Society, during a “bioblitz”, or biological census, on the Penryn campus. The unusual species was confirmed as new to science and named by Dmitri V Logunov, a jumping spider expert, of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.“It is amazing that something can be hiding in plain sight,” said Berry.

The fast-spreading species is not yet well-established on continental Europe but has rapidly moved through Britain since first being spotted in 2021. Since being found in Washington, north-east England, it’s been recorded in south Wales, Nottinghamshire and Camborne and Newquay in Cornwall. Many early sightings were close to ports or garden centres, suggesting they arrived on imported plants.

“It’s definitely got potential for causing a shift in the ecosystem,” said Berry. “But rather than predating on native spiders, I think they might just be competition for space.”and alarm arachnophobes, and the false wolf spider and the green-fanged tube web spider have the potential to cause a stir because of their size and their ability, in theory, to pierce human skin with their nips.

 

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