The Surrey Wildlife Trust (SWT) in the UK has observed a spider species that was thought to be extinct: a huge fox spider . This night hunter was spotted crawling in a Ministry of Defense (MOD) training area in Surrey, England.
This is the first time this spider has been seen since 1993. The find, while surprising, was not accidental, as spider enthusiast and SWT member Mike Waite has been looking for it for a long time.
After many months, days and hours, he finally found several adult males and a large female fox spider, which was 5.5 centimeters in diameter , including its large, hairy legs.
These spiders have excellent eyesight thanks to a pair of large eyes on the top of the head (two in front and four smaller eyes just above the mouth). His vision is enveloping thanks to the eight eyes distributed by the cephalothorax.
This species of nocturnal spider, the fox spider ( Alopecosa fabrilis ) is very fast and stands out for its excellent camouflage. It is one of the largest members of the wolf spider family (which hunt other smaller spiders). They do it at night and they chase their prey to catch them quickly instead of building a network, like most of their congeners. Once the victim is captured, they inject a poison that liquefies their internal organs.
This is undoubtedly an exciting rediscovery.
