3 Park Place, Suite 307 Phone: 301-731-4535 [email protected] Annapolis, MD 21401-3722 USA Fax: 301-731-4538 www.entsoc.org Proposal Form for new Common Name or Change of ESA-Approved Common Name Complete this form and send or e-mail to the above address. Submissions will not be considered unless this form is filled out completely. The proposer is expected to be familiar with the rules, recommendations, and procedures outlined in the “Use and Submission of Common Names” on the ESA website and with the discussion by A.B. Gurney, 1953, Journal of Economic Entomology 46:207-211. 1. Proposed new common name: Four species in the spider genus Cupiennius: 1) redfaced banana spider, 2) spotlegged banana spider, 3) redlegged banana spider, 4) Sale’s banana spider 2. Previously approved common name (if any): none 3. Scientific name (genus, species, author): 1) Cupiennius chiapanensis Medina, 2) Cupiennius getazi Simon, 3) Cupiennius coccineus F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 4) Cupiennius salei (Keyserling) Order: Araneae Family: Ctenidae Supporting Information 4. Reasons supporting the need for the proposed common name: For the last decade, I have been working on a project involving spiders that have been brought into North America in international cargo. I am in the process of summarizing the work and writing a manuscript. Some of these spiders are huge (leg span 50 to 70 mm) and typically cause strong reaction by cargo processors and produce handlers who discover these creatures when they are unloading and unpacking bananas. One of the spiders, C. chiapanensis, (which has bright red cheliceral hairs – see cover of American Entomologist, 2008, volume 54, issue 2) has caused several misidentifications by qualified arachnologists because 1) this spider was unknown until it was given its scientific name in 2006 and 2) prior to the 21st century, the only reference that many entomologists had to ID international spiders was a children’s book, The Golden Guide to Spiders by Levi and Levi. This book contains watercolor illustrations and in one rare frontal view, the artist has illustrated the highly toxic Amazonian wandering spider, Phoneutria fera, with slightly red-brown chelicerae. Because there is typically a produce handler frantically waiting for an immediate identification, the entomologist misidentifies the large spider found in bananas as P. fera, which is rather ridiculous because this spider lives in the middle of the Amazon, far away from the banana producing areas. The misidentified spider is usually C. chiapanensis. As its name implies, it is found in Central America and so far ONLY in Central America. Had the entomologist known this and also knew the country of origin of the bananas, geography would have gone a long way to prevent this mistake. These misidentifications are not trivial. I was consulted in one case where a qualified arachnologist made this misidentification and the company that found the spider was preparing to fumigate 20 truckloads of wicker furniture from Mexico as well as be required to develop a personnel protection plan for their employees. I was given the spider, recognized that it was NOT a Phoneutria spider and the company did not have to spend time and money in processing their merchandise. In a second case, a C. chiapanensis spider was found in a shipment of bananas in Houston. One of their employees misidentified this spider as the potential toxic P. fera at which point the work crew refused to unload 960 cases of bananas (market value = $26,500 USD). The spider images were sent to me for verification. Once I told them that they misidentified the spider and it was harmless, they unloaded the bananas. Delays like this risk great financial loss of perishable produce. Okay, after that long preamble……….. I would like to see these four species receive ESA-approved common names so I can discuss them in my manuscript. Being able to refer to Cupiennius chiapanensis as the “redfaced banana spider” is going to make this information much more palatable for dissemination to the international fruit importers, produce handlers and the media who likes to publish hyperbolic stories about deadly spiders found in bananas. On one occasion, I had to diffuse one of these stories in Minnesota, again because of a misidentification by someone who knows little or nothing about spiders. It seems that any time a large spider is found in bananas, it can’t be ANYTHING but a horribly toxic spider. In reality, the opposite is usually the case. Being able to call this one species, “the redfaced banana spider” and say that it is harmless, will go a long way to reduce arachnophobia, prevent hyperbolic reactions by the general public and in the rare event of a bite, may stop some gung-ho doctor from doing something excessive and stupid because he/she thinks that major aggressive remedies need to be applied quickly. As far as differentiating the large species of Cupiennius that are found in bananas brought into North America, it is actually quite easy which is why I am suggesting these common names which will make it easy to remember. Cupiennius chiapanensis has bright red hairs on the basal 2/3rds of its chelicerae and it is the only species of large Cupiennius that has this (“redfaced banana spider”). Cupiennius getazi has the lovely unique feature that the ventral surface of each femur is white with black polka dots (“spotlegged banana spider”). Cupiennius coccineus has bright red hairs on the ventral surface of the anterior legs (“redlegged banana spider”). Cupiennius salei is actually rather non-descript and does not show up in banana shipments to North America very often, however, this is the species that made its way to Europe in bananas decades ago, was the basis of a spider colony and has become the “white rat” of neurophysiology studies of Fredrick Barth. This spider has been researched so thoroughly for decades, that it is the subject of almost the entire neurophysiology book by Barth (Barth, F. G. 2001. A spider’s work: senses and behavior. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.) to the point that its place in spider neurophysiology is equivalent to that of Drosophia fruit flies in genetics. It would be worthwhile for C. salei to likewise have a common name (“Sale’s banana spider”). 5. Stage or characteristic to which the proposed common name refers: all 6. Distribution (include references): Central America Lachmuch, U., M. Grasshoff, and F. G. Barth. 1985. Taxonomische revision der Gattung Cupiennius Simon 1891 (Arachnida – Araneae – Ctenidae). Senck. Biol. 65: 329-372. Barth, F. G., and D. Cordes. 1998. Cupiennius remedius new species (Araneae, Ctenidae), and a key for the genus. J. Arachnol. 26: 133-141. Barth, F. G. 2001. A spider’s work: senses and behavior. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. Vetter, R. S. and S. Hillebrecht. 2008. On distinguishing two often-misidentified genera (Cupiennius, Phoneutria) (Araneae: Ctenidae) of large spiders found in Central and South American cargo shipments. Amer. Entomol. 54: 82-87. Vetter, R. S. et al. MS in prep, and unpub. data 7. Principal hosts (include references): none 8. References containing previous use of the proposed common name: none 9. References using common names (give names) other than that proposed: none 10. Other insects or organisms to which the proposed common name might apply: none 11. Steps you have taken to consult with other workers who are familiar with the insect or organism as to suitability of and need for the proposed common name: none. I figure that there is no one in North America who has worked more on these spiders than me especially in an area that is beyond that of academia as I have been working with an international fruit importer, public health personnel, the medical profession and I am the spider liaison for the pest control industry. So I feel that I am the expert in this area where little will be gained by consulting others. Proposed by (your name): Rick Vetter Address: Entomology Univ. Calif. Riverside Riverside, CA 92521 E-mail (if none, please type “none”): [email protected] Phone: Home 951-686-9858 (now officially retired but still doing lots of research at the university) Fax: 951-827-3086 Date submitted: initally 5 Dec 2013, revised version 31 Jan 2014 .