UK’S first new insect in 100 years gets a warm welcome
A NEW insect order has been discovered in the UK for the first time in 100 years after horticulturalists found a colony of webspinners in a glasshouse in Surrey.
While webspinners, or Embioptera, are usually only native to warmer climates such as the Mediterranean, scientists from the Royal Horticultural Society found the first ever UK colony of them at their garden in Wisley. They are intolerant to cooler climates and so do not occur naturally in Britain, and specialists have said they are likely to have been imported into the country via the plant trade.
The colony of Aposthonia ceylonica discovered in the glasshouse will now join 24 other insect orders found in the UK including beetles (Coleoptera), flies (Diptera), bees, wasps and ants (Hymenoptera), and butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera).
Webspinners have brown bodies up to 2.5cm long and are the only insects that produce a silk webbing from their front legs.
They live in tunnels constructed from it to protect themselves from the elements and predators. Only adult males are winged and they are usually the only individuals to leave the webbing.
Males, however, do not feed once they mature and die soon after mating. The species found in the UK is about 1cm long and lives on the hanging roots of tropical plants such as orchids and bromeliads.
The new insect is good news for gardeners, according to experts at the RHS, as they eat pests, rotting plant matter and mould, so could enhance and protect a greenhouse full of orchids.
Andrew Salisbury, principal entomologist at the Royal Horticultural Society, told The Daily Telegraph the webspinner was a “really interesting insect” describing it as “an addition to the UK’S fauna which will have no negative effect on our gardens”.
It is thought that there could be more examples in greenhouses in the UK, as their webbing means they can be easily confused for spiders. Mr Salisbury added: “The confirmation of a new grouping of insects in Britain is evidence of the role that globalisation will continue to play on what is found in our gardens. It’s certainly an exciting discovery – if I’d been told I’d one day be adding an entirely new insect order to British fauna I wouldn’t have believed it.” While the webspinner has been a welcome addition to the RHS’S garden, the charity has warned that invasive species and diseases are at risk of coming to Britain on imported plants. The charity is particularly worried about the devastating plant disease Xylella fastidiosa, which is well-established in southern parts of Europe. The bacteria infects and destroys popular garden plants such as lavender, plums and cherry trees, leading to a ban on such plants from Spain or other parts of Europe being shown at Chelsea Flower Show.