A Dunedin researcher’s spider senses were left tingling when a species new to science began falling from the sky.
A new addition to the 15 species of Baalzebub genus found in New Zealand has been discovered by University of Otago PhD candidate James Crofts-Bennett in Brighton.
Mr Crofts-Bennett said he found it for the first time on an endangered mistletoe leaf sample brought in by one of his peers in the department in 2017.
He found it again this year at Otokia Creek during a "spider rain" when hundreds of spiders were falling out of the sky.
The spiders would have arrived in the area by ballooning — a phenomenon in which they used electromagnetic propulsion to travel large distances.
The tiny 0.8mm-1.2mm-long spider was nothing to be scared of, Mr Crofts-Bennett said.
"It won’t bite you."
Even if the spider did puncture one’s skin, the venom load would be too small for the body to notice.
The Baazelbub genus was relatively common in the North Island, but very uncommon in the South Island.
So, Mr Crofts-Bennett was very confident he had discovered a new species after examining its genitalia.
It created a conical-shaped web that it would catapult at prey when it got close to them and grab it mid-flight.
The technique made it really good at catching flies.
Mr Crofts-Bennett had also discovered a tiny 3mm-long species in the Clubiona genus and another 0.8mm Pholcomma genus spider.
