A woman has discovered a new species of spider in her backyard, and after sending the creature to an expert, it was confirmed that the spider was unknown.
Amanda De George was walking in her backyard in Thirroul, Australia when she found a spider with a blue face and eight eyes about a year ago. But it wasn’t until recently when the creature reappeared and she successfully took a photo.
Ms. De George shared photos of the small creature to a spider identification Facebook page, writing: “What is this?”
The 4mm long arachnid’s blue face and multiple eyes gained the attention of a spider expert, who confirmed the species was unknown. He then asked Ms. De George to capture the creature and send it to him for further examination.
In an interview with Daily Mail Australia, “I thought it was incredibly beautiful with its bright blue face and eyes but didn’t realise how special it was.
“By the time I was told it was a species new to science it was long gone. It took me three-and-a-half months of full on searching to find another specimen. So that was the hard part! The capturing was easy!”
Ms. De George managed to capture two spiders and placed them in containers with tissues. She then delivered the creatures to Joseph Schubert, a Museums Victoria taxonomist.
“Honestly it is so exciting! It feels so nice to be able to contribute something to science,” Ms. De George expressed.
“I’m just an amateur nature lover and could never have imagined that this is something I would or even could do.”
The magnificent creature is actually a part of the genus-group Jotus, which includes other jumping spiders commonly found in New Zealand and Australia.
“The naming is totally up to Joseph who does all the hard work, but who wouldn’t want a spider named after them?” Ms. De George said.
In an interview with The Age, Mr. Schubert said: “But as you can tell from Amanda, you could very easily find a new species in just your backyard, which is pretty cool.”
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