A rare spider believed extinct in the UK for nearly four decades has been found alive on the Isle of Wight.
The Aulonia albimana, now nicknamed the “white-knuckled wolf spider” for its pale leg joints, was rediscovered at the National Trust’s Newtown nature reserve by entomologists Mark Telfer and Graeme Lyons. The pair located the tiny spider — just 4mm long — with only minutes to spare before their boat was due to leave.
Last recorded in 1985, the species thrives in open, sunlit grassland, which has been restored in the area thanks to grazing by Hebridean sheep.
Helen Smith of the British Arachnological Society hailed the find as “one of Britain’s lost species rediscoveries of the century.”
The discovery offers hope that careful habitat management could help the spider reestablish itself across the island.
