One of the UK’s largest and most endangered British spiders has been seen for the first time in 25 years … in Surrey. 

The Great Fox-Spider was feared extinct. It hasn’t been seen in the UK since the early 1990s.  

Mike Waite, spider enthusiast at Surrey Wildlife Trust discovered the spiders at a Ministry of Defence training area.  Several mature males were discovered and one female which was 55 millimetres in diameter including its hairy, spiny legs. Great Fox-Spiders have excellent eyesight with wrap-around vision provided by its eight eyes.