Great Fox-Spider Is Rediscovered In The UK

The Great Fox-Spider (Alopecosa fabrilis) is a critically endangered species of wolf spider and it was believed to be extinct in the UK, the last sightings having been in the early 1990s in three sites in Surrey and Dorset.

After two years of nights spent scouring the heathland of the Ministry of Defence training area in Surrey by torchlight for the nocturnal spiders, spider enthusiast Mike Waite found some unidentifiable immature spiderlings.
Upon further searching, he was then able to spot several adult spiders, both male and female.

Wolf spiders are so named due to the way they hunt.
The Great Fox-spider is well camouflaged and can chase its prey across sand or rocky territory, before pouncing and injecting its venom into its victim using fang tipped appendages. Their usual prey is beetles, ants and smaller spiders.
Being a hunting spider, their eyesight is very acute. It has two eyes on top of its head, two facing forward, and a row of four smaller ones just above its mouth. The adults are just over 2” in diameter including their hairy legs.
They live in holes under rocks or logs, or in burrows that they dig themselves in sandy soil. They line these burrows with silk, which helps them to survive the winter.

Now that these spiders have been rediscovered, hopefully, their heathland habitat can continue to be maintained not just for them, but for the other endangered residents of that area: the sand lizard, the smooth snake, the Dartford warbler, the nightjar, the silver-studded blue butterfly, and the marsh clubmoss.

Sand lizard

Smooth snake

Dartford warbler

Nightjar

Silver-studded blue butterfly

Marsh clubmoss