New button spider species confirmed in Zululand

ZULULAND has been put on the map in the arachnid world after a new species of button spider was discovered in the northern reaches.

WTF Entomology, part of the Wild Tomorrow Fund, recently confirmed the discovery of the Phinda button spider after almost five years of research following the initial discovery.

The species was first seen in 2014 at Tembe Elephant Park and it was the bright purple egg sacs that most interested the entomologists at WTF Entomology.

Much research followed, which included liaising with experts in the entomology field and continuing to search for the species in the region.

Almost four years after the initial sighting, a spider walk in Phinda revealed more individuals of the same species, and the project was back on track.

With the permission of Phinda’s ecologist, the researchers collected two wild females and one egg sac to further their research of this new species.

Before this discovery, there were 31 species of button spider globally, with eight recorded on the African continent.

All occur in southern Africa.

The following year was spent with WTF Entomology’s entomologists raising and feeding thousands of spiders with the aim of spotting a male and further studying the species.

Most of the spiders were released into their original habitat, but some were kept for research.

Intensive research eventually reached a point where WTF Entomology could confirm that the Phinda button spider was indeed, a new species, never before seen or studied.

The Phinda button spider does have a scientific name, but this will only be released once the species’s description has been published.