We think of new animal species being discovered as something that happens in darkest Africa or perhaps in the frozen wastes of Antarctica, but it can easily be taking place in our own backyard. A housewife in Thirroul, a northern suburb of Wollongong was putting out her recycling bin when she noticed a spider that she had never seen before.
In this age of mobile phones with cameras, she managed to get its picture before it escaped and so Amanda De George was entranced by its unusual colouring. Her spider had a hairy body, but its face was electric blue and it had amazing blue eyes. In fact it was nothing like the ordinary spiders that infest her backyard.
Amanda took her photograph to Facebook where it gained a lot of interest from amateur arachnophiles and similar scientists who brought her into contact with a specialist taxonomist at a Victorian museum, who identified her spider as belonging to the " Jotus " species which are known as " jumping spiders ". They have not before known to exist in Australia.
This scientist was very keen to examine a living specimen and so Amanda went on a spider hunt, eventually capturing one and securing it in a plastic container. That raised the question of how to get it safely to that museum in Victoria, and here the post office was very helpful.
It is possible to send living matter through the post, but rigid conditions apply. The container must be virtually escape proof and it must have adequate warnings that a danger exists. All posted items are subjected to inspection by sniffer dogs seeking prohibited matter and may be opened for inspection. That raises the risk of a live spider in the post escaping and managing to bite someone when the presence of venom is unknown.
It also presented a time problem. Any living creature needs both air and moisture to survive and the days of overnight post seem to be over. Amanda paid a little extra to have her spider delivered by Express Post and it arrived safely within twenty-four hours. It will now be closely examined to discover what - if any - risk it poses to people or crops now it has established itself in Australia.
The speed of air freight is ever reducing the time material takes on its journey from other parts of the world and once something becomes established here it encounters a very different climate and may breed proficiently. It may also find that one of our important crops is attractive as food and quickly become a very serious threat to our economy.
It was fortunate that Amanda previously worked as a zoo keeper and this interest in animals caught her attention when she saw something unusual. She took the trouble to follow through where most people would not bother and it is highly likely that her interest will have a lasting reward.
When something new is discovered in Australia is requires an official Latin name to identify it within the applicable genus. As the discoverer, it is highly likely that this name will honour Amanda's family name as part of that link.
Amanda may get some joy knowing that her action will link her name in perpetuity to the spider she discovered walking across the kid of her wheelie bin.
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