Rare species of spider discovered at National Trust park - and it's only found in Nottinghamshire

Clumber Park is home to a long lost species of spider currently being safeguarded and protected, it has been revealed. The diamond-backed spider is only known to populate Nottinghamshire’s National Trust site, after the 7mm wide creature was presumed to be extinct for more than half a century until it was discovered by ecologists at heathland in the south of England in 2017.

The National Trust is working in partnership with the British Arachnological Society to carry out vital research to ensure the continued survival of the threatened species.

Carl Hawke, Nature Conservation Adviser at the National Trust, said: “The findings will be crucial to our understanding of the critically endangered Diamond-backed Spider and inform how we manage its habitat going forward.

“One of the mysteries is why it has not previously been found before and why it’s only here in Nottinghamshire.

“Our aim is to learn more so that we can create habitats elsewhere on the park too so that the population of the Diamond-backed Spider can grow and thrive.”

The 3,800-acre parkland, within the ancient forest of Sherwood, has heathland, woodland, wetlands, and wood pasture, providing a range of habitats for many varieties of wildlife.

Dr Helen Smith, Conservation Officer at the British Arachnological Society, said: “We're very relieved that this beautiful, distinctive, but desperately rare spider is now receiving the attention it needs to ensure its future in Britain.

“With its apparent loss from the heathlands of southern England, the Clumber Park population is mission critical.

“Natural England's funding, the National Trust's careful management and the research, will provide the foundations for its recovery on heathlands more widely in Nottinghamshire and, hopefully, back in the south as well.”

Research at Clumber park aims to get a better understanding of the spider’s life, its breeding cycles and how and why it thrives in its current environment.

Ecologist Anna Maka, leading the research said: “The Diamond-backed Spider had only been recorded a handful of times in the south of the country and not since 1969.

“Then the next we hear, it pops up here in Clumber! My job is a little like being a detective as we find out why it’s only in this part of Nottinghamshire.”

The self-confessed ‘spider geek’ who hasn’t always loved spiders, also found wasp and labyrinth spiders at Clumber park during her research. “During the recent fieldwork, we found that the population may be bigger than we initially thought. This is great news, as the next steps in the next few years will be increasing the population numbers, meaning creating new populations,” she said.

As part of National Trust’s site management for the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), habitat improvement by increasing the heather cover at Clumber Park is already ongoing, to create and preserve the habitat of the diamond-backed spider.