It is a species endemic to the national territory and very rare to the point of being in the process of extinction.
The cavern spider of friar was only discovered in 2005 during the core activities of speleologists on the blue coast and described only in 2009. "This is the smallest spider of Europe (0.43-0.58mm) and one of the worlds smallest. It is the only representative of the family in the European territory, and the closest known relatives of the Ivory Coast only. With a distribution area of only 1 to 2 km2 in the Friar System on Sesimbra. Their numbers have suffered a sharp decrease due to the quarries, was recently listed with the status of critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. This spider is the only European and the only of 13 species in Portugal to have this status, the highest ranking in the IUCN" according to naturdata, a group of Portuguese scientists who congregate to classify the various types of wildlife that inhabit in our country.
Its scientific name is anapistula ataecina that derives from an ancient Lusitanian goddess, gum of Nature, Death and Rebirth. According to mythology lived in the underground, which meets the characteristics of this stealthy arachnid. Interesting, males of this species are unknown. Parthenogenic it seems, that is to say, there are no males in the reproduction process. The procedure is through female "cloning". Very feminists are these small spiders. Also important to underline, this specimen is part of the ranking of the most representative species for any reason that stood out as the most emblematic of all described from Portugal between 2000 and 2010. If you want to see the remaining elected of this list that had 303 votes at national level, just see it in the link at the end of this text.
