Overview
- The species, Aulonia albimana, was recorded in the UK for the first time since 1985 after fears it had been lost nationally.
- Entomologists Mark Telfer and Graeme Lyons located the spider during a four-hour survey window, finding specimens minutes before their departure.
- The individuals were discovered in a remote, overgrown area accessible only by boat and about 2km from the species’ former colony.
- National Trust management under a Natural England programme used Hebridean sheep to restore open, sunlit turf favored by the spider.
- The rediscovery produced the first digital photographs of the species in the UK, with the British Arachnological Society praising the significance.