Scientists discovered a new exotic species of jumping spider around a university campus in Cornwall – and Brits are being told to expect more of them thanks to global warming
Brits have been warned to prepare for an invasion of exotic spiders after a new species was discovered in Cornwall.
Anasaitis milesae – a tiny jumping spider – is less than 3mm long and was found on the grounds of the University of Exeter’s campus in Penryn, before being found at a second site 30 miles away. No other record of Anasaitis milesae has been found anywhere else in the world. It is however related to other species found in the Caribbean, meaning it is likely to have arrived in the UK on plants imported from the region.
It was named by jumping spider specialist Dmitri Logunov after his former colleague Claire Miles, who died last year. Now, according to another expert, Britain should expect to notice more of these previously unseen tropical species thanks to global warming and international trade.
These could also pose a risk to the survival of some native British species, she warned. Dr Helen Smith, conservation officer for the British Arachnological Society, told the Guardian: “As new, exotic species spread, particularly beyond urban areas, the chances of them impacting on less common native species increase. As well as competing for prey and for living spaces, these spiders may bring with them new parasites and diseases, an issue well known from invasive grey squirrels and crayfish but very poorly studied in spiders.”
Anasaitis milesae is not the only far-flung species to have gained a foothold, as about 50 non-native spiders have now been recorded in Britain. The tube web spider, a non-native spider familiar to the Mediterranean region, is also now found in a number of towns and cities across the south of England after initially being discovered in Bristol.
They are identified from their cylindrical tubes of cobwebs, which are often set up in between rocks or brickwork. It’s best not to disturb their webs however as their bite is venomous, though is known to only be painful, rather than fatal, to humans. There are only three types of biting spiders in total, and no poisonous or killer spiders, in the UK.