Post date: Jun 17, 2012 12:58:27 PM
LOMMEL, BELGIUM - Scuttling through an industrial wasteground, the Ladybird Spider is a rare sight.
A population of ladybird spiders is causing an administrative headache for the mayor of the Belgian town of Lommel as environmentalists pressure him to help preserve a rare colony discovered three years ago on a vast industrial site in the town. The authorities have plans to redevelop the site but conservationists believe it will kill off the species which was rediscovered in 2009, having been declared extinct in Belgium for more than a century.
The colourful arachnid is found in just seven countries - and it's in danger of extinction in Belgium due to its physical inability to leave its home, in one of Europe's largest industrial sites.
The Belgian Arachnological Society want to preserve the spider - but a major overhaul of its habitat into a business hub threatens to kill off the country's last remaining colony.
Society member Koen Van Keer.
MEMBER OF BELGIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY, KOEN VAN KEER, SAYING:
"This is the only place where the ladybird spider lives in Belgium, and it's the largest population in the world, so if this terrain disappears, it's the end of the ladybird spider in Belgium and of a large part in Europe."
The Ladybird Spider was in fact declared extinct in 1896.
This colony was only discovered three years ago, too recent to overturn the classification, meaning activists have no legal means to ensure its survival.
The society has made attempts to relocate the spiders to other suitable areas....but to no avail.
MEMBER OF BELGIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY, KOEN VAN KEER, SAYING:
"We buried some out and tried to put them on some other place, where we thought it was suitable, but the spider did not think, so, that's why it's very important that we protect this population on the spot."
The Ladybird spider mother dies after hatching her eggs so her children can feed on her body.
But after feeding, the young spiders have gained too much weight to relocate.
MEMBER OF BELGIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY, KOEN VAN KEER, SAYING:
"The ladybird spider is unable to disperse by using the wind - what other spiders do. And this makes it very vulnerable because it cannot move. It stays at the spot."
Conservationists want the Flemish regional government to act and partially block the site's redevelopment.
So far they've got nowhere.
Lommel mayor Peter Vanvelthoven is sympathetic and has offered a compromise.
MAYOR OF LOMMEL, PETER VANVELTHOVEN, SAYING:
"The solution we're investigating is to create a green corridor through the industrial area. The area has a lot of green around the companies' buildings. It's located in the middle of a windmill park, so it's a very green industrial area."
But the society say the proposed corridor is too small and badly placed.
With the two sides at a stalemate the future of the Ladybird Spider remains entangled in a web of confusion.
Jim Drury, Reuters