Midas Tree-weaver (Midia midas)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > spider (Araneae) > Spider |
| Red List Status: | Endangered (Not Relevant) [EN(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Midia midas |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Simon, 1884) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Harvey et al., 2017 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | EN, criteria: B2ab(ii,iv): restricted to C and SE England. Rediscovered at 1 (of 5) former sites since 2017 review. Still known from only 3/5 hectads recorded. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Extremely rare even in relation to its very restricted habitat |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | This species would not benefit from untargeted management |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Combination or other (detail in comments) |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Combination - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Restricted to the diminishing resource of veteran trees, mostly pollards in parkland and wood pasture. Systematic survey of known and likely sites in 2010-12 but only opportunistic, untargeted survey since then. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Targeted survey to establish current status, repeating and extending previous survey in 2010-12
Action targets: 2. Biological status assessment exists
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Sherwood Forest complex, Epping Forest, Windsor Forest, Burnham Beeches
Comments: Link to survey work for other rot hole specialists, including Mastigusta spp.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Increase survey efficiency and practicability by developing eDNA methods for detecting presence in arboreal rot holes.
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites:
Comments: Development of eDNA methods for spiders being trialled for Dolomedes plantarius will facilitate rapid expansion to other species.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: At existing and nearby sites, trial veteranisation techniques on younger trees to create medium term supply of rot holes.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Habitat creation
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Sherwood Forest, Epping Forest, Burnham Beeches
Comments:
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.