09/02/2026
And in our own backyard! Very cool (and creepy)
University of Idaho researchers have identified a new species of spider near Kooskia and have named it Hexura vandal.
āI think people assume that the U.S. has been pretty well picked over and we have an idea of all of the species in the U.S., and thatās not true at all,ā Chris Hamilton, associate professor in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, said. āThis is a great example of that.ā
The discovery was made in 2024.
The research team believes the species lives only in an isolated pocket of moist, coniferous forest in the mountains of the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests of north-central Idaho.
In addition to Hamilton, the team also included Arnau Calatayud-Mascarell, a doctoral student studying entomology; and former U of I postdoctoral researcher Ethan J. Briggs.
You can see their research here: https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/200898/
(Image courtesy University of Idaho)