New poisonous spider species discovered in South Moravia

Brno, Jan 5 (CTK) - Czech researcher Milan Rezac has discovered a new
poisonous spider species, one of the largest, most poisonous and colourful
spiders in Central Europe, in south Moravia, Rezac told CTK on Monday.

The spider, whose bite provokes a several-hour fever accompanied by
headache, has been called Eresus Moravicus, that is Moravian ladybird
spider. It has already been listed in the World Spider Catalogue.

"It can be found in the reserves where remains of the Pannonian steppes are
preserved," Rezac, from the Research Institute of Crop Production in
Prague, said.

He added he had found the Moravian ladybird spider in the Palava vicinity
near Mikulov, south Moravia, for instance.

The up to two-cm-long spider lives in underground dens and this is also why
it was difficult to spot it in the wild.

Male Moravian ladybird spiders have a distinctive black and red colouring,
resembling a ladybird, while the females that are bigger are black and
orange.

The way of life of the newly discovered spider is also rather peculiar
since its young first feed on their own mother.

The new spider species was uncovered by accident.

Originally, scientists identified only one species of ladybird spider in
central Europe - Eresus Cinnaberinus. However, in the 1990s, German
researchers found another species with "black legs" and called it Eresus
Sandaliatus.

Rezac was searching for it on the territory of Bohemia and Moravia.
However, he found a ladybird spider that differed from all so far described
species.

A discovery of a completely new spider species in central Europe is really
unique as a crushing majority of them were described in the mid-18th
century already. Previously, a new spider species was uncovered in the
locality in the 1970s.