Three new spider species discovered by SAS zoologists
Spiders fulfil several important functions in nature, and, in relation to humans, they are very useful, for example, in pest elimination in agriculture. Spider specialists from the Institute of Landscape Ecology SAS successfully recorded the occurrence of three species of spiders, which are new to the territory of Slovakia. They have already published their findings in the Check List journal.
"The Burda Mountains and the Slovak Karst are among the warmest areas of Slovakia which makes their fauna very interesting. These mountains form a buffer zone that allows the influx of plant and animal species from the Mediterranean. It was here that new species of spiders were discovered. Most of them belong to Mediterranean species and can be found more southerly," explains arachnologist Pavol Purgat from the Institute of Landscape Ecology SAS.
The new spider species do not yet have a Slovak name. The largest of the newly discovered species is Mimetus laevigatus, notable for feeding exclusively on other spiders. The other two species, Trichoncyboides simoni and Altella aussereri, are very tiny, just over a millimetre long.
"The last-mentioned species is particularly interesting. Before its detection it in Slovakia, Altella aussereri was considered a species that does not live anywhere else in the world except in the southern part of the Italian Alps. Now we know it's not endemic. It is very small, lives hidden in the soil and easily escapes the attention of scientists," says the scientist.
Even though people don´t consider spiders to be the favourite animals of the animal kingdom, they are of special importance to nature and man. Their position in the food chain as both predators and prey helps maintain the natural balance in nature. From the point of view of importance for humans, they are extremely useful in agriculture and forestry, because they are bioagents, that is, they participate in the elimination of pests. Spiders are also excellent indicators of the state of the environment, the so-called bioindicators.
"At our institute, we have been engaged in intensive monitoring of the spider fauna in various habitats of Slovakia for many years. Thanks to this, awareness is improving not only about the species already known from our territory but also the discoveries of species that were not known in our country until now. So far, more than 1,000 species of spiders have been detected in Slovakia," concludes Pavol Purgat.
The research was carried out within the VEGA grant agency project "Research of specific landscape elements of bio-cultural landscape in Slovakia."
The article is published here.
Edited by Monika Tináková
Photo: Pavol Purgat, UKE SAV, v. v. i.