Agroeca istia is a new species of spider described for science, found in Navarre.

Agroeca istiaof the family Liocranidae, is a new species of spider described for science, found in the Vedado de Eguaras (Bardenas Reales). This is one of the findings of the research carried out by the Pamplona biologist Gabriel de Biurrun who, in addition, has increased the number of new records for Navarra to 124 -previously 279 had been cited- and 12 new species for the Iberian Peninsula. The doctoral thesis, entitled "Arañas de Navarra. Diversity and distribution. Digital methods of study" has been directed by Dr. Enrique Baquero, researcher at the Institute of Biodiversity and Environment and professor at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Navarra.  

The work of the Pamplona arachnologist consisted of collecting spiders in Quinto Real, El Perdón mountain range and Vedado de Eguaras. This sampling has been carried out every fifteen days during a full year and has allowed us to know the diversity of species in Navarra, their geographical and seasonal distribution. "The aim was to obtain information on the three main geographical and climatic zones of the region (mountain, Middle Zone and Ribera) and on the biodiversity of spiders in their respective biotopes, such as the beech forest, the oak forest, or the pine forest of Las Bardenas", assures de Biurrun.

Gabriel de Biurrun performs an informative activity in a school. 

Gabriel has also created a web-based mapping tool that can serve as a reference query for arachnologists and also for the dissemination of science museum collections. On the other hand, the researcher has developed a Raspberry Pi-based macro-photography system, which has been necessary to take photographs of his sampling. "The Raspberry photography system has a multitude of applications, ranging from the purely scientific, both for an academic laboratory and for an amateur naturalist; to its educational use, as an individualized digital imaging system in classrooms."

According to this biologist from Navarra, every day new species of animals disappear -many of them unknown-, and for this reason he considers it necessary to finance ecological and zoological studies to achieve a better knowledge of biodiversity "It makes no sense to pretend biological control of pests if we do not even know the local species and their distribution".

Agroeca istia. 1mm scale.

Bibliographical references

→ de Biurrun, G., Barrientos, J. A. & Baquero, E. (2021). A new species of Agroeca Westring, 1861 from Navarra, Spain (Araneae: Liocranidae). Zootaxa 4941(1): 84-90.