Nothophantes

Nothophantes
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Linyphiidae
Genus: Nothophantes
Merrett & Stevens, 1995[2][3]
Species: N. 
Binomial name
Nothophantes
Merrett & Stevens, 1995[2][3]

Nothophantes is a genus of spiders in the family Linyphiidae (more commonly known as sheet weavers or money spiders). It has one species, Nothophantes horridus, also known as the horrid ground-weaver, an extremely rare[1] species of spider endemic to the United Kingdom. First discovered in 1989, it is only known to inhabit one small geographical area of less than 1 km2, in the city of Plymouth.[1] The species' name is derived from the Greek words notho, meaning "spurious", and hyphantes, which means "weaver";[4] and the Latin horridus, which means "bristly".[5]

Distribution

Nothophantes horridus, which has a total body length of just 2.5 mm, has only been found in three limestone quarries and one industrial site, all in the Cattedown area, to the east of Plymouth city centre. One of these locations, Shapter's Field Quarry, which was the species' type locality, has since been developed by builders and is now the Plymouth Trade Park industrial estate.[1] Because of the species' small size, combined with its habit of living deep inside cracks and crevices in the rocks and only emerging to hunt at night, it is difficult to find.[6] First discovered in 1989, it was not subsequently found again until 1995.[7] Until 2016 only nine specimens have ever been found, of which seven were female and two male.[4]

The spider was found at a fourth site and photographed for the first time in 2016.[8]

In September 2011, Nothophantes horridus was one of the subjects of BBC Radio 4’s Saving Species programme.[9]

Threats

Plans to build 57 houses in Radford Quarry were submitted to Plymouth City Council and rejected in 2014. However, the developer behind the building proposals, Wainhomes (South West) Holdings Ltd., appealed against the council’s decision, triggering a formal planning inquiry.[10][11] In 2015, an online petition to save Nothophantes horridus from extinction, started by the conservation group Buglife, was signed by almost 10,000 people. In addition, money was raised through crowdsourcing to fund further research into the species,[5] totaling nearly £10,500.[12] In June of that year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) rated the spider as critically endangered thereby adding it to the global Red List of Threatened Species.[1][10] On 9 June 2015, the Planning Inspector deciding the appeal ruled that the building development could not go ahead. The main reason cited for the decision to reject the planning application was concern for the rare wildlife, and notably Nothophantes horridus.[10][13] Celebrating the decision, Andrew Whitehouse of Buglife said: "What a fantastic result for wildlife. Buglife believe that to knowingly cause the extinction of a species, no matter how small, is morally wrong".[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Cardoso, P.; Hilton-Taylor, C. (2015). "Nothophantes horridus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Gen. Nothophantes Merrett & Stevens, 1995". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  3. 1 2 Merrett, P.; Stevens, R.A. (1995). "A new genus and species of linyphiid spider from south-west England (Araneae: Linyphiidae)". Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society. 10 (3): 118–120.
  4. 1 2 Allen, Duncan (2011). "The distribution, ecology and conservation of the Horrid ground-weaver Nothophantes horridus" (PDF). Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  5. 1 2 Elder, Charlie (29 April 2015). "Fight to save 'invisible' UK spider highlights plight of lesser-known species". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  6. ↑ "Summary for Nothophantes horridus (Araneae)". Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  7. ↑ "Horrid ground-weaver". March 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  8. ↑ "Britain's rarest spider found at new site, and photographed". buglife. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  9. ↑ Presenters:Brett Westwood (8 September 2011). "Saving Species Episode 16". Saving Species. Series 2. BBC. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 "Rare horrid ground-weaver spider stops Plymouth housing plans". BBC News. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  11. ↑ Morris, Steven (13 January 2015). "Rare spider under threat from housing estate plan, conservation charity warns". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  12. ↑ Blackledge, Sam (26 June 2015). "Crowdfunder round-up: Web project generates cash for Plymouth causes". The Plymouth Herald. Plymouth. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  13. ↑ "Critically endangered spider saved from planning development". buglife.org.uk. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  14. ↑ Morby, Aaron (11 June 2015). "Horrid ground weaver spider halts housing scheme". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
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