TheLord Of The Ringstaught us that going through caves can often take to unexpected encounters with spider . Dr Marc Milne and colleague Elizabeth Wells had one of these encounters in Indiana . Luckily for them , the critter was not a giant monster but a tiny sheet - weaving spider . Oh , and it is translucent .
Many cave - dwelling creatures do in fact , over time , become translucent . Producing pigments requires muscularity , even the blandest color , so why waste precious Energy Department when no one can see you ?
As describe in the journalSubterranean Biology , the raw wanderer is calledIslandiana lewisi . It is the 15th coinage of the Islandiana genus to be discovered , which are mostly aboriginal to North America . The new creature was discovered in a Stygeon River Cave , located in southern Indiana . Only five of the Islandiana species live solely in cave .
The arachnid is tiny , only about 2 millimeter in length and , as the English name suggests , it builds its web in a 2-dimensional sheet - like social structure . Its prey , the research worker suspect , is other smaller arthropods such as the collembolan . They interweave their web in small sheets spreading across the gap between mud covered boulders .
it was Dr Julian Lewis who first showed the wanderer to Dr Milne and acquire the permission to chaffer the cave , thus the spider is name after him . Milne , however , immediately think the spider was quite peculiar .
" I did n’t know what the spider was at first , I just think it was odd that so many were living within this dark cave with no other wanderer specie around , " Dr Milne , who is an assistant prof at the University of Indianapolis , said in astatement .
The specimen was collected in October 2016 and it fill a while for Milne to realize that it was really new . The first inspections showed similarity with two speciesIslandiana flavoidesandIslandian cavelis , but a more elaborated study after a few month showed unique characteristics not find oneself in other specie .
The cave it was ground in is not on the dot welcoming , either . It sits at the conflux of the Blue and Ohio river , and is capable to implosion therapy . Although while mankind might find it a bad property to live , or even dangerous , theIslandiana lewisihas carved a nice little niche for itself . Good for you , tiny wanderer .
