Critically endangered species found for first time in 40 years
Critically endangered white-knuckled wolf spider rediscovered on Isle of Wight
- A critically endangered spider, Aulonia albimana, informally named the white-knuckled wolf spider, has been rediscovered on the Isle of Wight.
- The tiny orange-legged arachnid was last recorded in the UK in 1985, marking its return after four decades.
- Entomologists Mark Teller and Graeme Lyons made the discovery at the National Trust’s Newtown National Nature Reserve.
- The team located the spider in a remote, overgrown area accessible only by boat, approximately 2km from its former colony.
- This rediscovery is hailed as a major conservation success and one of Britain's epic “lost species” rediscoveries of the century.