Rare spider discovered by National Trust visitor

The rare spider has never been spotted in Staffordshire or Worcestershire before, National Trust bosses say

A rare species of spider has been spotted at a National Trust conservation site, in what the charity believes is the first such sighting in the area.

Just in time for Halloween, bosses said a visitor at Kinver Edge on the Staffordshire-Worcestershire border saw the secretive purseweb spider.

The eight-legged critter is sometimes called Britain's "mini-tarantula" and was found in heathland around Kingsford Heath.

Bosses said the tunnel-building spider had made a home in the diverse landscape, which was maintained to support nature and wildlife.

"As we were walking up through the heathland, I just noticed this very strange-looking spider," said Matthew Rigby, who discovered the creature.

He put the photo through an AI app to help identify it, he added.

"I think this is the most excited I've been, finding anything on Kinver," he added.

The British Arachnological Society describes the purseweb spider as "scarce". Most sightings are in the south of England, though there are "scattered outposts" elsewhere, it added.

Kingsford Heath was restored by Worcestershire County Council about two decades ago, with its ongoing management now the responsibility of the National Trust.

The trust said heathland was characterised by wide, open landscape, with scattered trees and low shrubs, such as gorse, heather and grasses.

The sandy soils provide an ideal habitats for lots of invertebrates, including the purseweb spider, they said.

'Regionally significant'

National Trust rangers care for Kinver Edge by grazing livestock and cutting vegetation to control invasive plants to stop them being over-taken by bracken, scrub or woodland.

National Trust countryside manager Ewan Chapman said the purseweb spider was a fascinating but elusive species.

"It spends most of its life underground, hiding in a silk-lined burrow capped with a camouflaged 'purse' of web.

"Unsuspecting insects walking over the surface are ambushed and dragged below."

He added: "The discovery of the spider is regionally significant, as well as being a good indicator that our work to restore the heath on Kinver Edge is really paying off.

"It also goes to show the important role that our visitors can play by recording and sharing their wildlife sightings with us," said nature conservation adviser Andy Perry.

Conservationists were now hoping to restore an area of conifer plantation, he added, with the aim of stopping the extinction of rare species on the site.