A Chinese farmer recently made a discovered that startled him to his very core at first, but then quickly led him to a brilliant idea that may very well pay off for him.
The farmer’s name was Li Wenhua, and he discovered an incredibly rare species of spider that is thought to be an ancient relic from the past. The shocking part was the spider was alive.
The creature was a rare hourglass spider, and if it is a real specimen, it should fetch the farmer a nice price.
That is exactly the idea he had when he first saw the unusual spider. The spider is named for the strange disk-shape of its abdomen that is reminiscent of the top of an hourglass.
It was captured on the orange farm of Wenhua, and it went up for auction back in mid-November.
Wenhua had a time convincing his neighbors of the find since the spider has only been seen a total of six times since it was rediscovered as a still-living species back in the year 2000.
As soon as it was confirmed that the specimen appeared to be real, the farmer started spreading the word of the find in the hopes of getting a higher price from a larger base of interested parties.
The hourglass spider was one of the first spiders ever classified within China, but it was lost to the ravages of time just as many other species were once thought extinct.
In 2000, when the spider was discovered once again, people started searching for them all throughout China. Even in that massive area, only six more were found. Finding one of these spiders is about as likely as winning the lottery.
