GABORONE, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- Botswana's wildlife researchers are conducting their studies about the reported discovery of a new species of jumping spiders in the southern African country, an official said Thursday.

Grace Muzila, permanent secretary of Botswana's Ministry of Environment and Tourism, was referring to a report late last year that South African researchers discovered a unique critter while sorting out a collection of arachnids collected in Botswana.

"It is a new species and our experts are searching for details about this type of jumping spider. Preliminary investigations into the newly discovered creature suggested that it is a genius Festucula, a type of jumping spider," Muzila told a press conference in Gaborone, the Botswanan capital.

She said the new creature was collected from the surface of a swamp in Okavango Delta, in northwestern Botswana.

The eight-legged creature is named Festucula Botswana, after Botswana, its country of origin, Muzila said, noting that the arachnids are mostly carnivorous, feeding on the pre-digested bodies of insects and other small animals.

Tshepo Moilwa, one of the local researchers involved in the verification study, said the arachnid measures about 0.76 cm long, and the length of its legs ranges from an estimated 0.25 cm to 0.41 cm. Enditem

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