Giant spider population booms in UK as species the size of rats enjoy record mating season
Fen Raft spiders were near extinction 14 years ago - but now they’re making a comeback
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.One of the UK’s largest breed of spiders have had the biggest mating season on record as efforts to re-establish the species in the UK receive a major boost.
From near-extinction 14 years ago, the number of fen raft spiders are now soaring increasing thanks to recent conservation efforts.
Only a handful remained as their wetland homes were destroyed by humans in 2010, but work to bring them back from the brink of extinctions saw the likes of Chester Zoo release thousands back into the wild a decade ago.
The zoo has continued to breed the spider, and has now revealed that 10,000 resident breeding females have had the biggest mating season on record.
Sharing the news on social media, Chester Zoo said: “Ten years ago we helped release THOUSANDS of GIANT spiders back into the UK!
“The fen raft spiders were bred right here at the zoo, and we’re super happy to report there’s now more than 10,000 breeding females... and they’ve just had the biggest mating season on record! You can’t miss them, they grow to be the size of your hand! Honestly, you’re so welcome.”
Fen Raft spiders can spin a web as large as 25cm and can grow to the size of a rat - but are completely harmless to humans.
The fen raft spider has a brown or black body with white or cream stripes along the sides. With a span of up to almost three inches (8cm), they are the largest of the UK’s 660 native species of spider.
The species only lives in fens, marshes and wetlands, using their long hairy legs to skate across the surface of the water.
The spiders are not venomous but are semi-aquatic and can run across the water’s surface to capture their prey. Their diet includes other spiders, damselflies, dragonfly larvae and even fish and tadpoles.
They are easiest to spot in grazing marsh ditches from June to September.
Describing how it saved the unique species back in 2011, Chester Zoo said: “Our experts set about rearing hundreds of baby spiders in individual test tubes (so they didn’t eat each other!)”
It added: “Our team delicately hand fed tiny flies to each of the hundreds of spiderlings using tweezers, day in, day out, for weeks on end in our bio-secure breeding facility.
“Eventually, the young spiders grew strong enough to be returned to their natural habitat, which our partners worked to restore, and we released them in their hundreds!”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments