The team that found the tiny orange-legged arachnid, Aulonia albimana, which was last recorded in the UK in 1985, have informally named the species the white-knuckled wolf spider. “We had just four hours at the site where this spider was last seen 40 years ago, before our boat came to pick us up. “I found the first one with just nine minutes to go, and the second one in the last minute. I’ve seen 559 species of spider in the British Isles and this one was by far the most exciting find.”The team located the spider in a remote overgrown area of the reserve accessible only by boat, about 2km away from the spider’s former colony. Dr Helen Smith, conservation officer for the British Arachnological Society, said: “The remarkable discovery of this dapper little spider on the Isle of Wight is one of Britain’s epic ‘lost species’ rediscoveries of the century.

Source: The Times October 29, 2025 12:49 UTC