Three new species of spider have been discovered on the island of St Helena, in the South Atlantic, prompting calls from scientists to quickly identify unknown invertebrates so they can be protected.
The wolf spiders bring the total number of species that exist nowhere else in the world except this remote island to 505.
One spider discovered is the Molearachne species M. sanctaehelenae, which makes unique mounds that have earned it the local name “mole spider”. Two other species were discovered, the Dolocosa joshuai and Hogna veseyensis.
Conservationists are racing against time to find and protect species as they are thought to be under threat from habitat loss on the British Overseas Territory. The three new spiders are thought by scientists to already be endangered.
Two of the wolf spider species live in the island’s cloud forest, which used to cover 600 hectares of the island, but due to deforestation now covers only 16 hectares.
Liza Fowler, an invertebrate specialist from the St Helena National Trust, said: “St Helena is peppered with pockets of unique habitats which are home to species that exist nowhere else in the world. In the cloud forest alone there are 120 endemic invertebrate species that we know of, and who knows how many more not yet identified. If we don’t know what species are out there, we don’t know how best to protect them.”
The RSPB and the St Helena government are running a project, funded through the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, to protect and restore the cloud forest, which also provides more than half of the island’s fresh water to its 4,500 residents. St Helena has recently been susceptible to droughts. The project aims to increase the size of the forest, which provides water by capturing mist, by 25%.
Danniella Sherwood, a research associate at the Arachnology Research Association, added: “St Helena is like an island-sized candy store for a spider specialist like me. The island has an incredible range of habitats which has produced over 400 invertebrates that exist nowhere else in the world, about 120 of which are in the cloud forest. I hope that our work will lift wolf spiders up as a flagship group on the island, exemplifying its unique and beautiful invertebrate richness.”
