New species of spider discovered in Cornwall

A species of spider, previously unknown to science, has been found in the grounds of a university campus in Cornwall.

The small jumping arachnid was discovered in 2023 during an annual nature survey to find and identify different species on the University of Exeter’s Penryn campus.

The University said several of the new species were collected and deemed "unlikely to be a Cornish native" - specimens were then sent to a spider expert at Manchester Museum, who confirmed they matched nothing in Europe.

The new species has been named Anasaitis milesae.

The University said they were related to another species of spiders found in the Caribbean, and had likely arrived in the UK on imported plants.

Student Finley Hutchinson said the spider was part of "over 500 species" found during the event.

He said: "I was brought a few specimens of the spider that were found by of the public, kind of looked at them and gone 'what is that":[]}