DECRYPTION – These fearsome hunters act as natural insecticides and regulate ecosystems.
In attics, under dead leaves, in forests, dunes, wetlands, caves… They are everywhere. The first ever inventory of spiders in mainland France is an opportunity to reveal the incredible richness of this group of unloved animals: 1622 different species (127 of which exist nowhere else in the world) are present in France. , populating absolutely all environments.
« Everyone knows a handful of species, especially those that live in homes and gardens, but we are far from suspecting their diversity. »underlines Florian Kirchner, program manager at the French committee of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), at the origin of this unprecedented census.
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Unveiled this week, the assessment also makes it possible to measure the fragility of these arachnids. Some 170 species are threatened with extinction and join the IUCN Red List. 101 others are close to completion. The scientific data…