Buglife has received the first ever images of a little-known endemic spider in Bermuda, thanks to photographs submitted by local resident, Clare Russell. Confirmation of the species was made by Senior Conservation Officer at Buglife, Danni Sherwood, a leading authority on arachnids and Project Manager of the Supporting Atlantic Territories Invertebrate Conservation project.
The photographs were shared by Buglife’s project partner, the Bermuda Government Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and have created quite the buzz within the arachnology community.
Despite being only 53km², Bermuda is home to at least 20 endemic species of invertebrate, including the Bermuda Sac Spider (Anyphaena bermudensis). Little is known about many of these species, which are found nowhere else in the world, but sadly it is likely that many are threatened by habitat fragmentation, climate change and invasive non-native species.
“The Bermuda Sac Spider was only discovered in the 1980s, and until now, was known only from scientific illustrations. The fact that we now know what it looks like when alive is important information which will help us with our future research on the island. It demonstrates the power of citizen science in furthering our understanding of these little-known species- who knows what else inquisitive members of the public could discover?”, explains Buglife Senior Conservation Officer, Danni.
Clare Russell, who made the discovery, said, “Having lived in Bermuda my entire life, it is extremely exciting to have noticed this delicate spider previously unseen and unknown to me. To contribute to the further understanding of the natural world, and in particular, Bermuda’s, would be a very great honour.”
Robbie Smith, Curator of the Bermuda Museum (Bermuda Government), who forwarded the record to Danni for identification added, “We are excited to conduct these surveys and engage with the public as we need to understand the status of small terrestrial endemic species like this spider, insects like our beach cricket, and tiny land snails.”
The ‘Supporting Atlantic Territories Invertebrate Conservation’ project aims to improve our understanding of the endemic and native species in Bermuda, Anguilla, Ascension Island and the Falkland Islands. By understanding where these special species are found, we can identify Important Invertebrate Areas, and the targeted conservation work needed to secure their futures.
Understanding more about invertebrates in the Territories has never been more pressing, and thanks to the support of citizen scientists, like Clare Russell, we are building a better picture of Bermuda’s wildlife in partnership with local governments and organisations.
Buglife is inviting Bermuda residents to help with this vital effort by sharing their own photos of invertebrates through iNaturalist. Every submission will be reviewed and verified by invertebrate experts and add to our growing database of recorded species, strengthening the future work of our project to better understand and protect invertebrates in Bermuda.
With special thanks to Clare Russell for allowing use of photos.
This project is funded by the UK Government through Darwin Plus (DPLUS216).
Main Image Credit: Bermuda Sac Spider (Anyphaena bermudensis) © Clare Russell
