Spider census aims to ID new species on P.E.I.
Nature PEI looking for volunteers to hunt for the 8-legged critters
A spider may have scared Little Miss Muffet away, but not Nature PEI.
The organization, also known as the Natural History Society of Prince Edward Island, is hoping to identify new spider species through a citizen-scientist census.
And while volunteer Kyle Knysh beats the bushes in search of spiders, he's also on the hunt for other people to help take an inventory of the spider population across P.E.I.
"We'll have a few nets to lend out and go out and do a few sweep transects in a variety of different habitats and hopefully have a few spiders fall in the nets," he said.
In addition to nets, the spider census will use pit traps, which consist of beer cups buried in dirt up to the brim.
Only 38 species of spiders have ever been identified on the Island, compared to 437 in Nova Scotia and 382 in New Brunswick. Scientists believe that there are many more species on P.E.I. just waiting to be discovered.
Nature PEI says most insects and invertebrates are poorly understood on P.E.I. and projects such as the spider census will provide scientists with important baseline data to better measure changes in the environment down the road.
"When you know nothing, then you can't really make any conclusions about the effects of climate change on certain species," said Rosemary Curley, president of Nature PEI.
Knysh has already found a new spider species after stumbling on a six-spotted fishing spider while out canoeing a few years ago.
He's hoping others will share the thrill of discovery too.
"You never know what's hanging around in the soil. There's just great diversity of things living in there that you don't really see on a normal basis."
Nature PEI hopes to collect about 1,000 or more spiders.
The group is hosting a volunteer training session Saturday at the Upton Road provincial tree nursery in Charlottetown.