Jumping spiders – famous for their agile leaping behaviour – are one of the most populous types of spider, but there are some very uncommon species within the group. This includes Neon pictus, a tiny jumping spider that is extremely rare in the UK.
Excitingly, this species – which is just 3mm in length – has just been found for the first time in Suffolk, England, hanging out in an old military testing site.
On a spit of land next to the North Sea, against a backdrop of abandoned buildings once used for atomic bomb research, surveyors from the British Arachnological Society found an individual Neon pictus spider clinging to the underside of a rock.
- 14 incredible spider facts you probably didn't know
- 10 biggest spiders in the world
- What are the weirdest spiders in the world?
Spider survey
The location of the survey was Orford Ness, a military testing site that was bought by the National Trust in the 1990s and has since been managed as a nature reserve. Its vegetated shingle habitat is rare and fragile, and makes the site of international conservation importance.
Richard Gallon, one of the surveyors, said that finding a Neon pictus specimen was a real highlight.
It’s no mean feat that the surveyors managed to find a specimen during their rainy expedition, given that this tiny species are sun-worshippers that often hide away during bad weather. “We were delighted to find this species at Orford,” Richard says, adding that “it extends the known UK range of this nationally rare species into East Anglia.”
Rare discoveries
Not only did the surveying team find the tiny jumping spider, but also four other spider species that are nationally rare, a further seven that are nationally scarce, and a total of 55 species.
“The presence of so many species, as well as their high numbers, indicates a generally healthy habitat,” Matt Wilson, the National Trust’s Countryside Manager for the Suffolk and Essex Coast, says.
Matt adds that “many species are so small that they were unlikely to have been found by non-experts and their equipment.”
Still, next time you’re out and about, why not keep an eye out for some of our smaller and easily overlooked eight-legged friends? Not only are they indicators of a healthy habitat, but as the photographs show, they’re also quite cute.
Main image: a view of the wild and remote landscape through a window at Orford Ness, Suffolk/National Trust Images, Jemma Finch
More wildlife stories from around the world
- Deep-sea scientists just filmed something enormous swimming over the seafloor in Chile
- The world’s largest wildlife crossing is now standing in California
- Something critical has just been found at the bottom of a lake in Yellowstone National Park
- Harvard scientists sent two flying robots on a mission – and they've just detected something
