Out of the dark: A new spider found at the bottom of a cave in Indiana

Spiders are ubiquitous in our forests, fields and backyards. Although you have the habit of seeing the beautiful yellow and black spiders of the genus Argiope in your garden, big wolf spiders in your garden, or cellar spiders in your basement, this new spider you do not Have not seen before. The reason is known in a single cave in the world, Stygeon River Cave, in southern Indiana.

Professor Marc Milne, Assistant Professor at the University of Indianapolis, describes the rare species in the journal Open Access Biology with the help of Elizabeth Wells, a former student of the University of Indianapolis, who illustrated the manuscript spider

The leaf weavers, also known as dwarf spiders or spider mites. money, do not exceed a few centimeters. in length, which makes them particularly elusive. Their strange canvases are flat and look like leaves, hence their common English name.

The new spider, Islandiana lewisi is a tribute. Milne was shown spider by a fellow scientist, Dr. Julian Lewis, who noticed the creature on one of his many cave expeditions. In recognition of his help, Milne and Wells named the spider after Lewis

. It is the fifteenth species of its kind ( Islandiana ) and the fifth to live exclusively in caves. It has been more than 30 years since the last species was added to this group.

Of a size of about 2 mm, Islandiana lewisi feeds on even smaller arthropods, such as springtails living in cave soil debris. It is not known when it breeds or where it exists elsewhere. The spider is probably harmless to humans

The spider collectors, Milne and Lewis, have described the hostile conditions in the cave, which the new species calls home: "Because the cave floods from time to time, the interior is wet "

Milne and Lewis found the spider in small horizontal canvases between large rocks covered with mud in the largest room of the cave. was collected in October 2016 with permission of the owner.

Milne hypothesized that he had collected something special, stating, "I did not know what the spider was at early, I just thought it was strange that so many people live in this dark cavern without any other species of spider. "

After returning to the lab and inspecting the spider under the microscope, Milne initially misidentified the species. When he re-examined it months later, he realized that the species was indeed new to science.