A new species of spider was discovered in Indonesia by a researcher at Royal Holloway, University of London, according to Phys.org.
Dr. Lena Grinsted, an early career research fellow in the School of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway, described the new spider species in a new paper published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
The tiny spider, named Chikunia bilde, has colors of black/brown or orange/yellow and belongs to the cobweb family Theridiiae.
The spider is not aggressive or cannibalistic, and lives in large colonies with the closely-related spider, Chikunia nigra, according to Phys.org.
Along with Grinsted, American and Indonesian collaborators describe the unique and living arrangements of the new species.
It is the first record of any colonial spider groups made up of two species that are each other’s closest relative. Since the species are so similar, they are quite difficult to tell apart.
“We still need to study them more, but it’s been very exciting to find a new species of spider with such a unique habit of living with others that has great potential for biological pest control,” Grinsted said in a quote on Phys.org.
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