A SPIDER not seen in Britain for nearly 10 years has returned from the dead and made its home in Epping Forest.

Scientists who feared that the Midas tree-weaver might have caught its last fly have been delighted to rediscover it after they built some nests they thought it would like and waited to see if it moved in.

James Dale, of Buglife – The Invertebrate Conservation Trust, said: “We filled them up with twigs, bits of dead leaf and some chicken poo, because we had to make a natural organic waste material, which was a bit like a rotten bird's nest.”

They placed the nests in oak pollards and within a month they discovered that two females – measuring just 2.5mm across – had settled in. Mr Dale said: “It’s a really exciting find for Epping Forest.

"Given that it’s not been seen for eight years, it is a real rediscovery – some things have been missing for shorter amounts of time and been considered extinct.”

But news of the rediscovery has come as no surprise to those familiar with the diversity of creatures to be found in the forest. Forest verderer Peter Adams thinks the unique longevity and continuity of the habitat has contributed to its ability to attract rare species.

He said: “It’s an area which has been the same for many, many centuries so populations are able to build up and live in it. You have got that continuity of environment with large habitats which have been stable for quite a long time.

“The forest is famous for its fallow black deer but a large proportion of mammals can be found there. You also get a wide variety of birds such as warblers.

“One of the things the forest is most famous for is dragon flies. If you go to the Wake Valley lake just south of the Wake Arms you will see a large proportion of the British list of dragon flies.

“There are a vast number of spiders in the forest, and because of the huge amount of dead wood you get huge amounts of beetles who live on that.”