One of UK's rarest spiders found in Wales

The discovery of one of the UK’s most endangered spiders at Pant–y-Sais in Wales is "fabulous news", according to the Countryside Council for Wales.

The rare adult fen raft spider was found by a member of the South and West Wales Wildlife Trust on weeds that were floating on a canal - making this the first Welsh record of the spider. Since this first discovery, more than 20 spiders have been found, some of them with young.

The fen raft spider has a black or brown body nearly an inch long, white or cream stripes down its sides and hairs on its legs that allows it to glide across the water’s surface to grab prey.

Its name comes from the way it leans over pools on a plant and dangles its front legs on the waters’ surface to pick up vibrations from approaching prey – mainly pond-skaters and dragonfly larvae, but it can even catch small fish such as sticklebacks as well as tadpoles.

David Painter, CCW’s Warden for Crymlyn Bog and Pant-y-Sais Fen, said: “This is a exciting find. Up until now, the fen raft spider was only found on two sites throughout the UK – both in eastern England. So, finding a population of this size in Wales is extremely good news."

The now endangered species was first discovered in 1956 and has long been thought to be restricted to two sites at Lopham and Redgrave Fens on the border between Suffolk and Norfolk and the Pevensey Levels in Sussex. It is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

It is thought to be under threat of extinction in western and central-southern Europe whilst remaining well established in Scandinavia and the Baltic States.

(gmcg)