This summer a new species ofĀ spiderĀ was discovered at one of Staffordshire Wildlife Trustās nature reserves. Joshua Styles, an ecologist and botanist who has featured as a presenter on Countryfile, made the chance find while he was helping the Trust with a vegetation survey at Black Firs and Cranberry Bog reserve.
The spider, a Gnaphosa nigerrima, has only been known to inhabit one other place in the UK before.
Joshua said: āIt was any normal day for me during summer, doing a botanical survey atĀ Black Firs andĀ Cranberry bog. That was before I noticed a fleck of velvety black in the corner of my eye. Only a few weeks previous I remember seeing news about one of the rarestĀ spidersĀ in Britain, Gnaphosa nigerrima, known only from Wybunbury Moss. I caught theĀ spiderĀ for photographs, just because it looked so incredibly similar.
āLater down the line, thatĀ spiderĀ was found out to be the very same species, the second ever British site! Although it might not have been a plant, it was really exciting!ā
Wybunbury Moss has a very similar landscape toĀ Black Firs and Cranberry Bog, itās situated just over four miles away near Nantwich and is a National Nature Reserve owned and managed by Natural England.
Jeff Sim, Head of Nature Reserves and Species Recovery, said: āWeāre really excited by this discovery, and thankful for Joshuaās eagle eye!
āBlack Firs and Cranberry Bog is aĀ Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Ramsar site, a wetland of international importance. ItāsĀ very fragile and there is no publicĀ access toĀ the area where the spider was foundĀ as it's such a dangerous site with a floating raft of peat over an eight-metre-deep pool. However, this is the perfect habitat for theĀ Gnaphosa nigerrima.
āOther than the site in Cheshire the spider is known to be widespread in the cooler parts of Europe and Asia. In north-western and central Europe, it has been recorded from Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland.ā