Dr Helen Smith, conservation officer for the British Arachnological Society, said: “The remarkable discovery of this dapper little spider on the Isle of Wight is one of Britain’s epic ‘lost species’ rediscoveries of the century.
“With repeated failure to find it at its former sites, where its open habitat has been lost, it seemed increasingly likely that it had joined the country’s sad list of extinct species.”
The area where the spider was found used to be overgrown but has been restored by the National Trust with the help of a flock of Hebridean sheep.
The trust said they chewed through vegetation to maintain short, open turf – creating exactly the kind of patchy, sunlit ground the White-knuckled Wolf Spider favours.
Dr Smith praised the “vital habitat restoration work” and said it showed the white-knuckled wolf spider “not only had a place to hang on, but hopefully one in which it can now thrive”.
“We look forward to working with the National Trust to establish the full extent of the population and determine the conditions it needs to expand its range and secure its future” she said.
