An arable field in Cambridgeshire has yielded a new species of spider.
At 1.2 millimetres long, it is just half the size of its well-known relative,
the 鈥榤oney spider鈥�. David Powell of the government鈥檚 Central Science Laboratory
said that 19 dead spiders have so far been found in traps laid by researchers
on arable land in Boxworth, Cambridgeshire.
鈥楾he spiders have very small eyes and are very pale, and this suggests
that they鈥檙e at least partially subterranean dwellers, and normally keep
out of sight,鈥� says Powell.
Peter Merrett of the British Arachnological Society confirmed that the
spider is unclassified, but is a member of the Linyphiidae family to which
the money spider belongs. The researchers now hope to find live spiders,
including females.
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