AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGY Newsletter of the Australasian Arachnological Society No. 89 Winter 2020 $5.00

2012 interview with Norman Platnick page 10 Colour and movement page 23

Mighty mites page 12 West to East page 5 Thomisids page 28 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89

The aim of the Australasian Arachnological Society is to Editorial Contents promote interest in the ecology, Robert Whyte and Helen Smith An ancient connection across the Pacific behaviour and of Darko Cotoras ...... 4 “An Australian of the Australasian ne particularly sad incident for our Walking sideways region. scientific community since the last Jim Hackett ...... 8 botanist took me Membership of A$20 covers Australasian Arachnology was the untimely Interview from 2012: Norman Platnick to Springbrook four issues of Australasian O on the history of the World Catalog Arachnology. ISSN 0811-3696, passing of Norman Platnick in April 2020 at the Norman Platnick interview by Robert Raven ...... 10 1951-2020 see Robert National Park, where scheduled to appear three tender age of 68. MITES on Insects the other other 99% times a year. Previous issues are Norm leaves a huge legacy of work relevant to Raven’s interview with Owen Seeman ...... 12 he showed me the available to members at the www. our region and contributed over 500 taxonomic Norm on page 19 Colour and movement australasianarachnologicalsociety. contrast between the lowlands with names of Australian genera and species. and Tracey Churchill’s Robert Whyte ...... 23 org via their login. Back issues personal memoir on sub-tropical Asian and Gondwanic are available to non members 12 His death was announced in the NY Times with Spider Artistry page 54. months after publication date. the article www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/science/ Renata Wright ...... 24 elements and the cool temperate Two common overlapping Argiope spp. Contributions are welcome. Please earth/norman-platnick-the-real-spider-man-is-dead-at-68.html. The with ventral views for identification Gondwanic dominated forest at send articles to newsletter@ American Natural History Museum ran the official obituary, stating Graham Winterflood ...... 26 australasianarachnologicalsociety. “it is with much sadness that we mourn the passing of Dr. Norman highlands. While the other visitors org Thomisids of Wingham I. Platnick, Curator Emeritus.” Steve Woodman ...... 28 were amazed with the view for Cover photo Cosmophasis darwini With more sadness and yet celebration of a life well lived we You must be Jotusing by Robert Whyte see Colour and “Best of All lookout”, I could not include a Tribute to Dr Barbara York Main: Robert Whyte ...... 33 movement page 23 arachnologist and nature writer by Leanda Mason Bungendore Park WA stop looking at the Antarctic Beech and Patricia L. Kennedy (see page 50). David & Fleur Knowles ...... 34 (Nothofagus moorei). The impression Below, Australasian We are heartened to see a jam-packed newsletter A new Australian subfamily of garden orb-weavers Arachnological Society members Pedro Castanheira & Volker W. Framenau ...... 36 with a huge range of topics, locations and this forest had on me was strong with other attendees at the My dream of visiting every pile of rocks in Australia joint ento-arachno-systematics authors. We hope to enthuse our members to Sarah Crews ...... 38 enough to rival that view and its conference in Brisbane in Barbara York Main submit even more features and news items for Huntsman subdued and dragged off December 2019. Owen Seeman 1929-2019, tribute bold name, which is, by the way, future editions. Until next time, we wish our Brian Jenkins ...... 40 delivered the AAS keynote members all the best for success in science. page 50. very well deserved.” address see page12. Heteropoda records sought for Sydney Region Helen Smith ...... 41 — Darko Cotoras Two stunning Bellawongarah Lincoln Macgregor...... 42 Searching for and finding Periegops News Greg Anderson ...... 44 Mark Harvey has passed on a newly published paper News on mygalomorph phylogeny using genomic data. The Compiled by the editors ...... 45 study results in several family-level taxonomic changes Tribute to Dr Barbara York Main to the classification of the Australian fauna, including: Leanda Mason and Patricia Kennedy ...... 50 : from to . , Introducing Ecoconnections Chenistonia, Hesperonatalius, Kwonkan, Namea, Duncan Farquhar ...... 52 Proshermacha, Teyl & Teyloides: from Nemesiidae to Remembering Norm – Dr Norman Platnick Tracey Churchill ...... 54 Anamidae. Cethegus, Australothele and relatives: from to Euagridae. Ixamatus, Xamiatus and Kiama: to . Some other changes have been made in earlier papers, including: Atrax & Heteropoda records sought relatives: to Atracidae and Conothele: from to for Sydney Region see page 41 Ventral view of . Sydney’s native Huntsman Heteropoda longipes. Have you seen one? Tell Helen. 2 3 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89

ne day I was working at the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural in OSantiago, Chile. I was having a hard time identifying some strange beetles. At some point, I asked the curator for some guidance. He looked at me and said: “I will bring you the Bible”. He quickly walked away and came back with a large green book titled The Insects of Australia. I realized that he was joking about the Bible and probably I did not mention that the samples were from Chile. After indicating the origin of the specimens, the curator insisted and said: “Yes, they are from Chile, but at a high taxonomic level this book is, perhaps, one of the best resources for Chilean insects as well as Australian ones.”

Nothofagus forests. Left Antarctic Beech (Nothofagus moorei) at Springbrook National Park. Queensland, An ancient Australia. Right Coigüe de Magallanes (Nothofagus betuloides) and Lenga (Nothofagus pumilio) forest at Cerro connection Bandera. Isla Navarino, Chile. Darko D. Cotoras California Academy across the Pacific of Sciences

4 5 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89 I knew about the Gondwanic connections continent. Australia and New Zealand and one in Chile enough to rival with that view and its bold between South America and Australia. It is true that there are many connections and Argentina (Chilenodes). The subfamily name, which is, by the way, very well deserved. However, the incident with the book made between the forests in Chile and the rest of the Micropholcommatinae within has This distant connection has been the focus me think about how much this biological Neotropics, such as the Podocarpus conifers, species in Chile, Brazil, Australia and New of a large amount of research, but probably connection is present in our collective which are also present in the Yungas of Perú, Zealand. The superfamily Archaeoidea includes has not yet permeated into our collective unconscious. I am saying this because the Bolivia and Argentina, or the Drymis trees with several families all of them with Gondwanic unconscious of the biological identity of where second after the curator started his explanation a disjoint distribution with the Mata Atlántica distribution. In particular, we live. This ancient connection will greatly my rational mind kicked in and I understood from Brazil. with species in New Zealand, Chile and illustrate important concepts of deep time, the reason. But, there is also a large number of taxa Argentina. Finally, the mygalomorph geologic processes and evolution. Giving us a I am sure if he had brought a book about shared with Australia and New Zealand: Missulena () has one species in notion of how the austral continents from the insects of Latin America, I would have not Nothofagus, Eucryphia, Araucariaceae and Chile and 17 in Australia. In general, most of Pacific were once connected and today more been confused. But this book would have Berberidopsidales trees, Peripatopsidae velvet these groups correspond to old lineages, which than hundreds of million devoted many pages to where the bulk of the worms, Parastacidae fresh water crayfish, existed before the split of Gondwana and have years after, witnesses of diversity is from. In the case of South America, Galaxia fish, Ratite birds, Australidelphia limited dispersal abilities. that time are still living the Amazon. Biogeographically, the Amazon marsupials, among many others. I knew about this by the books, but it was in our forests. has very few affinities with the temperate Of course, the spiders are not the exception not until I had the fortune to go to Australia rainforests of southern Chile. Despite being and there are remarkable examples such as the that it really “hit” me. An Australian botanist Acknowledgements in the same continent, geographic conditions family with two genera in Chile took me to Springbrook National Park, where I am very grateful to such as the Arid Diagonal and the Andes have and Argentina (Austrochilus and Thaida) and he showed me the contrast between the lowlands Mario Elgueta and Lui isolated the forests of the Pacific coast of one in Tasmania (Hickmania). The family with sub-tropical Asian and Gondwanic Weber for sharing their southern South America from the rest of the with 12 known genera between elements and the cool temperate Gondwanic knowledge about these dominated forest at highlands. The lowlands ancient connections. I would like to also express Austrochilidae from Manquemapu, Chile. looked foreign and exotic, yet when we ascended my gratitude to Robert Whyte and Anne Jones I found a strangely familiar vegetation. While for their welcoming and generous sharing of the other visitors were amazed with the view for knowledge about Australian spiders and many “Best of All lookout”, I could not stop looking other topics. My research in Australia was at the Antarctic Beech (Nothofagus moorei). funded by the 2019 Lizard Island Reef Research The impression this forest had on me was strong Foundation Fellowship.

Mecysmauchenius sp., Mecysmaucheniidae from Parque Karukinka. Tierra del Fuego, Chile.

6 7 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89 Walking sideways

Some Crab Spiders () of the Wet Tropics, reported by Jim Hackett from Cairns, far north Queensland.

Above left, a hard to identify crab spider not uncommon in Far North Queensland, somewhat like a Tharpyna but with a wrongly shaped cephalothorax for that genus. It may be Misumena or a relative of that genus. The male, middle left, with only five legs remaining, was photographed by Iain Macaulay. The remaining legs show a distinctive spination and colour. These spines and colours are shared by the female.

Above right is the widespread Stephanopis altifrons which was redescribed by Machado, Teixeira and Milledge in 2019. S. aspera, S. depressa, S. monticola, S. elongata and S. scabra are now considered its junior synonyms. Mastira adusta. This crab spider’s range stretches from Papua New Guinea out to the Solomon Islands and down to Sydney NSW with its concentration in Far North Queensland from the tip of the Cape southwards to about Below left, a Running Crab Spider. This is a Rockhampton. philodromid, thus not a crab spider at all. There are only a few species known from Australia but more will Stephanopis sp. Female be found. For identification, the second leg is longer far left and male left. This than the first. This is one of the characters of this genus has been revised family. White hairs around the back of the abdomen by Machado, Teixeira and and on femora 4 and 3 may help with ID. Interestingly. Milledge 2019, making it this spider is guarding its egg-sac during the day. possible to diagnose species more easily, though many Acknowledgements. Thanks to Rob Whyte and Greg require the aid of a stereo Anderson, authors of A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia microscope. This species CSIRO Publishing 2017, for their help. resembles Stephanopis armata. For more Crab Spiders, see Steve Woodman’s article on Thomisids of Wingham on page 28.

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RR You’ve followed Roewer and Brignoli in a Catalog. These are decisions because they’re in your Interview from 2012: Norman Platnick on number of the specific aspects. For example, that group – a group that you know and understand – and you’re carrying the sexes but the qualifying reason for that’s the reason that you make those decisions. the history of the World Spider Catalog something to appear in the Catalog is? NP There are very few examples of that actually. NP Well there has to be a taxonomic novelty in By and large I catalog the literature as a literature the description of the species obviously, a transfer, cataloger not as my opinions about the literature In 2012 Robert Raven recorded a synonomy or a description that’s important for but there are some cases that are so obvious and so a wide ranging chat with Norm working taxonomists and importance that translates flagrant it would be silly to follow them. pretty directly into illustrations of genitalia because RR One of the reasons I’m interviewing you on the history and impact of the that’s what we use. That’s our stock in trade. is because you’re the cataloger and it’s your fine World Spider Catalog RR The significant thing here is that the sexes are understanding of The Code and of the final outputs leading the line so that we know what’s important. and how they interact that’s important. In the final For an article from The New York Times featuring the photos above, see The other thing that people ask a lot about is the analysis everything is subjective. For example, there are www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/science/earth/norman-platnick-the-real-spider-man-is-dead-at-68.html distributions and unlike some catalogs you don’t carry over 5,000 linyphiids, I think, out there. the distribution against each entry. NP I’d have to check. It’s close. There are over 5,000 Robert Raven We are talking about your Catalog – something more about the relationships of particular NP That’s correct. We don’t have a huge matrix with salticids. Probably not quite that many linyphiids. the Catalog of Spiders of the World. It began when? groups. Obviously there is no way to translate 42,000 species on one side and 165 nations on the There’s no doubt that certainly in that particular family Norman Platnick I started working in 1986. We phylogeny directly into a single linear unambiguous other. If someone wants to do that work then all power there is incredible minutia. They have no statistically did scan Brignoli’s catalog. We acquired that. The OCR listing but it does roughly follow the relationships. to them but not me. effective generic level classification therefore [optical character recognition] worked pretty well. RR You’re a very busy man. How do you get all this RR Am I correct in understanding that the order of everything is largely random. They have dozens and When it came to do the big job which was Roewer’s stuff done? When do you do the Catalog? a distribution is usually from west to east and north to dozens and dozens of monotypic genera all of which Catalog, we tried several different OCR systems. None NP Well the Catalog is done basically in off hours. south. Is that correct? are in essence statements of total ignorance about the of them produced acceptable results so we took the It’s not something in the city or in the office to do. In NP Yes. Definitely north to south and usually yes relationships of the other taxa. old-fashioned way. We got a volunteer and over the fact the only thing I do here in the office is to check west to east RR What I’m thinking about is we’re seeing now next couple of years that volunteer typed. One of our original old literature. I can’t do it any other way than RR The maintenance, for example, of Australian single species papers. division secretaries Beat Brewster who’s an excellent physically looking at the things. Everything else is done states is part of the historical thing or is it because of NP As a reviewer I personally now decline to typist did some of the work as well, on those rare either at home or on the train. area? even look at manuscripts that involve only isolated occasions when she didn’t have anything else to do. In RR How do you know about the literature? You NP It’s primarily a matter of area. Australia by itself descriptions in groups that haven’t been recently a sense the decision had been made for me by Brignoli don’t rely on people just sending it to you. is too large. The states in Australia are pretty much supervised. I don’t believe it’s a worthwhile activity. because when Brignoli decided to do his first update NP Well it is important that people send things to perfect for use in the Catalog. In the U.S. we don’t do RR And likewise with monotypic genera – if they’re to the Catalog he adopted Roewer’s style. It’s obvious me because I often find out about things first that way. that, you know, because states are too small. out of context? why he did that. He was a working taxonomist. As a But these days electronic notifications work pretty RR The purpose of the Catalog is not to try to track NP If they’re out of context. Exactly. The fact is you working taxonomist Roewer gives you quick access well. I routinely check things like Zootaxa and Zookeys, every momentary change in distribution. cannot publish a legitimate argument for establishing to exactly what you want to know. That seemed to be where lots of stuff is published. In the old days you NP Correct. We can’t possibly do that because I a monotypic genus looking only at that genus. You the way to go. When I first started work on the Catalog had to wait a year to get an issue of Zoological Record don’t even cite all the relevant literature. There are can’t. It’s not possible by definition. You have to show in 1986 we had just acquired XyWrite which is in my to see what they had found that you hadn’t. Now the often times papers published that might have 200 that its relationships are such that it is not a subgroup view still the best word processing program that’s Zoological Record online is updated once a month. So records. I don’t check those records to see if this is a of any currently named taxon and of course many been invented. Unfortunately it works only in DOS once a month I check those listings. new record for, you know, Lower Slavia. people don’t follow that very obvious principle. [disk operating system]. There is a sort of third cousin RR So Zoo Record but not just Zoo Record? RR And the thing is should anybody in the future twice removed that’s available for the Windows world NP But not just Zoo Record. I use the news feed decide to go back to dissect them it would be a Norman IRA Platnick (1951–2020) called Nota Bene. It’s been customized for use in the from TOL [Tree of Life]. It sends me lists of everything massive task. It is with much sadness that we mourn the humanities and so I use it on occasion and in a pinch they see that’s published on spiders. The problem NP You would have to go back to the original passing of our friend and colleague Norman that’s what I would have to do. There is simply no way is that it’s done by a computer so it’s very dumb. literature and way more literature than is in my to produce the Catalog using tools like Microsoft Word. Because we have a spider named Archaea and so are bibliography. And the question becomes how valuable Platnick after a tragic accident. Norman It’s not possible. half the microbes in the world I get all those microbial is the information? Identifications that are published is survived by his son Will Platnick and RR It’s not one Catalog, it’s like 26 files plus the papers of which I have only tangential interest but I do in faunistic studies that aren’t revisionary studies are daughter-in-law Rebecca Ehrlich. bibliography. occasionally find things. wrong as often as they’re right. So taking all that For the video from which this transcript NP Yeah, I’d say about 40 or 50 files all together. RR It’s a sifting process? information at face value you will get nowhere. was drawn see www.youtube.com/ RR And the order of the families is roughly NP Same is true with Zoological Record which RR There are a number of places in the Catalog watch?v=Mye-_Tt6LDU phylogenetic, is that right? includes lots of titles which aren’t relevant to the where you make an ex-cathedra decision. In some For a personal tribute by Tracey Churchill, NP Yes. And it changes periodically as you learn Catalog. places, species disappear, they’re still born in the see page 52.

10 11 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89 on Insects Owen Seeman, Collection Manager: Arachnida, Queensland Museum, MITES takes us into the miniature world of mites. Sometimes scary, often THE OTHER OTHER 99% hilarious, occasionally revolting, but always interesting.

ites are tiny. Most are so small we the other groups to miserable little Mite superorder diversity. In Acariformes, insect-associates are in the Astigmatina and Prostigmata. In can ignore their existence, except orders. Yet despite being united in a subclass, Parasitiformes, they’re in the dominant Mesostigmata. coloured sems by david evans walter. Mwhen we encounter one of the few few acarologists now consider the group species able to impinge on our lives. It might be monophyletic. when a greenhouse is attacked by spider mites, The enormous Superorder Acariformes capsicums destroyed by broad mites, when we (42,000 species) has a fossil history extending are bitten by fowl mites, a case of scabies, or a to the Devonian, back with all the other beloved moggie with ear-mites — all annoying ancient groups of arachnids, while the less but usually transitory. Mites then fade into the diverse Parasitiformes (14,000 species) may background again. well be among the most recent of all arachnid Mites are everywhere all the time. Multitudes groups, with fossils barely being known from of mites are in soils, in freshwater, in oceans, the Jurassic and only hitting their stride in the seething masses on plants, on fur and feathers. Eocene. In unspeakable places, nasal passages, lungs, eyeballs, cloacas, even burrowing in our hair Groups follicles and skin! Within the Acariformes, mite-insect Mites are often found in association with associations are common in two major groups, insects, where they are far more diverse and no the Astigmatina and the Prostigmata. less extraordinary than those on vertebrates. Both of these groups also have many species that do not live with insects. Prostigmata are the Mites, a big story about small things live-everywhere-do-anything mites and has the Mites are the tiniest of all arachnids and most significant plant parasites. the tiniest with legs. This allows Within the Parasitiformes Mesostigmata their exploitation of many unusual habitats. is by far the most diverse group (though ticks They’re remarkably diverse in species and deserve a mention). Many of these mites form body form, so much so that we generally treat relationships with insects. them as a subclass of the Arachnida, relegating What are these relationships? Parasitism

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ABOVE Adult female Podapolipus alphitobii (Podapolipidae) on Alphitobius (Tenebrionidae) — a fascinatingly ABOVE LEFT A parasitid deutonymph phoretic on a fly. ABOVE RIGHT the phoretic deutonymphs of Astigmatina revolting mite. Podapolipidae are usually sexually transmitted. Female Podapolipus are bloated sacs of squirming attached to the underside of a Mesostigmata. Even mites can carry mites! david evans walter brood, with males being produced first owen. seeman qm BELOW Promegistus armstrongi on Pamborus. As the beetles devour juicy pieces of worm, the mites feed on the slops. geoff monteith is one of the most obvious, and the scourge Kleptoparasitism is also likely for some adult of Varroa parasitising honey bees is but one mites that live with their hosts, where they join example of what impact mites can have on in the fun when their host kills a large prey item insects. Many other parasitic relationships and makes a slobbering mess of it. are more benign, with mites taking all the Mutualism is also present, but proving sustenance they need without obvious effects on mutualistic relationships is tricky and requires their host. detailed study. Typically, mutualists are closely The weirdest of all mites are often parasites, associated with their host in all life stages, and especially those that spend their entire lives their services are confined to eating on fungi or on the host, where unusual or reductive nematodes that are pathogenic to their host. morphologies result in animals that sometimes Commensalistic relationships are those where barely look like mites at all. mites gain advantage from their association Some parasites are parasitic in just one but have no impact on their host. Within this life stage. The most common of these are the realm is phoresy: a relationship where a small Parasitengonina. These mites are parasitic only uses a larger animal for transport. in the larval stage, often seen on their hosts Mites, being tiny and wingless, are nature’s as red, orange or creamy blobs. Usually they expert hitch-hikers. They exploit the carrier’s are tiny while their hosts are large. These have superior mobility to take them from one habitat little impact. Those that attack tiny bugs, such to another, habitats that are patchy in time and as aphids, can act like parasitoids. After their space but resource-rich, for example, dung, parasitic life stage, these mites drop off and carrion, fungi, decomposing plants and rotting become free-living predators, for example red- logs. Usually, only one life stage utilises phoresy, velvet mites or — if their host was an adult typically a deutonymph or an adult. These mites aquatic insect — the water mites. must cling on to their hosts. Some seem to do

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so with little more than sucker-like feet, such as secreting stalks of hard-setting glue from their to predation in their the mites found on Panesthia cockroaches or the anus in the case of many Uropodina. preferred habitat. For ameroseiid mites on honeybees. Others use their A phoretic relationship can be purely some, their phoretic chelicerae to clasp onto setae or bite into the phoretic: the mite attaches to its host, ceases association is more soft cuticle of their host. But others have more feeding, and obligingly disembarks once they sinister — a way of extraordinary adaptations: modified claws for reach their destination. But nature isn’t always staying close to their grasping onto setae, great suckers for hunkering so orderly. Sometimes, they might puncture host so that they can down on their hosts, or, rather revoltingly, the cuticle and feed, even though they revert become predators or parasitoids of BELOW Some methods of phoretic attachment. Top left, Paradiplogynium, which has sucker-like feet. Top right, their host’s eggs and Pygmephoroidea, which attach with a claw at the top of their tarsus. Bottom, Berzercon ferdinandi, which has a early-instar larvae. pair of large suckers flanking its anus. owen seeman qm Sometimes, mites seem to spend their adult lives with a host without ever feeding on them. For example, the enormous Megisthanus found on passalid beetles are predators and scavengers of small , yet seem to spend all but the first few days of their Megisthanus leviathanicus on Mastachilus australasicus. Males (top) are the largest of adult life in close all Mesostigmata, and seem to control harems of females (bottom) on their beetles, association with their with which they spend their adult life. jeff wright qm host, which becomes well as advocating for a vast underestimate a place to find a mate and perhaps a safe place of protists and nematodes, they suspect mites to scrounge food. This also facilitates potential could rival or even exceed the diversity of transport to a new log, should the beetle insects. The scientific literature supports them: experience the urge to migrate. mites are known from almost every order The other other 99% of insects (only the smallest orders have no Several decades ago, some cheeky records) and most surveys of mites on insects entomologists termed the invertebrate world return more species of mites than insects. the other 99%, a gleeful jibe at the immense However, I had some reason to doubt. Some funding put into the 1% of animal life, the time ago, I surveyed about 1,500 Mesostigmata- vertebrates. And to be honest, as entomologists invertebrate associations and found a strong we were really just thinking about insects, and bias for host relationships with Coleoptera and perhaps arachnids, and turned a wilful blind-eye Hymenoptera. Not only were they biased at the to the frightening groups of truly tiny animals, ordinal level, but also for families within those such as protists and nematodes. orders: scarabaeids, passalids and scolytines But could one of these megadiverse groups made up about three-quarters of all beetle- also be the mites? A paper published a few Mesostigmata records, and ants and apid bees years ago (Larsen et al. 2017) thinks so. As made up 90% of all Hymenoptera records. So, with some scepticism of the results of

16 17 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89 Mesostigmata-Insect Processing beetles for relationships: proportion of mite- mites. Dry beetles are insect relationships by soaked, then the elytra order. At least in Mesostigmata, lifted gently then the there’s a strong bias to mites slide-mounted and relationships between mites and identified.owen seeman qm Coleoptera and Hymenoptera. were found equally on dung beetles and Larsen et al. (2017), I applied for a small ABRS remained) and tourists (free-living mites non-dung beetles, but grant to test their ideas while also working entangled on insects by accident), there was still once corrected for size, on one of my favourite groups of mites, the 195 species. Close enough to a 1:1 ratio. dung beetles are clearly Podapolipidae. These bizarre Prostigmata Carabidae were very popular with mites (79 (and expectedly) much are found on several groups of insects but are spp.) and Chrysomelidae not so much (29 spp.), more mite-infested particularly fond of beetles. They are almost with Scarabaeidae (47 spp.) and Tenebrionidae than equal-sized non- all regarded as sexually-transmitted parasites (59 spp.) intermediate. No mite species were dung beetles. and, due to this method of transmission, found across all four families, but four species I was also highly host-specific. I reasoned that if there were on three and nine species were on two, so interested in how were going to be millions of species of mites “tramps” that associate loosely with beetles the life habit of mite Podapolipidae, then we can expect 750 species in on insects, then beetles — as the most diverse were present but not a huge part of mite species affects host specificity, as this is an Australia alone and 12,000 world-wide. Which group of insects — needed to pull their weight diversity. important part of making species diversity is pretty impressive for one family of mites on and that the Podapolipidae would have to play However, one of the first indicators that the estimates. As expected, parasites that spent their one family of beetles currently known to host a an important role. They are not a huge family 1:1 ratio might not be true was the number entire lives on their host were more host-specific bit over 100 described podapolipid species. (ca. 250 described species), but as host-specific of described species. This was just 21, but (1.4 insect host species per mite species), as were What determines if a beetle species is going subelytral parasites known from many families that represents about 10%, which is similar the mite species that associated phoretically but to have mites? The best indicator seems to of beetles, perhaps they were underappreciated. to more restrained predictions that 5-10% of not just for transport (1.5 insect host species be size. Mites like big insects. For example, I What I did was this: I randomly selected mite species are described (making ca. half to per mite species). The species parasitic in one sampled 17 species of Carabidae with body 200 species from the Queensland Museum one million mite species globally — see Walter life stage were less specific (2.3) while those lengths < 4.3 mm and found just one tramp mite Insect Collection: 50 species from each of & Proctor 2013). About half those species that were purely phoretic were usually found on from those 170 specimens. Overall, for beetles four highly diverse groups of beetles — the were from dung beetles, where Bruce Halliday several species (4). < 5 mm in body length, the probability of Carabidae, Chrysomelidae, Scarabaeidae, and and Michael Costa had worked on their Given the above information, I felt that I finding a mite on that beetle species was 16% — Tenebrionidae. For each species, I examined 10 Mesostigmata. In contrast, the most diverse could — and should — have a stab at my own compared to 49% for beetles 5-10 mm, 78% for specimens — externally at first, but then they group were the Astigmatina families Acaridae species estimate for mites on insects. I stress that were soaked in warm water, their elytra gently (50 spp.) and Histiostomatidae (22 spp.) These 10-20 mm and 90% for lifted and then jetted with ethanol to remove are enormous, daunting families that have never beetles > 20 mm. any mites hidden there. It’s a slow process, but been worked on in any serious way in Australia. Phylogeny also plays also a lot of fun for an acarologist, as examining Considering Australia’s pathetic investment in a role. Some mites seem each specimen felt like being a kid opening taxonomic acarology, it will likely remain this to prefer some groups presents at Christmas. Was it going to be way. more than others. In something you were wishing for, or yet another What about the Podapolipidae? Are beetles the Carabidae the pair of lurid underpants? the source of a huge, hidden diversity of these Pterostichini had many And did I smash those ideas of a 1:1 or even mites? Not really. Yes, the Carabidae were a rich more mites compared 1:4 ratio for mites on insects? Not even close. source, with 15 species, but there were none with all other groups, My survey found over 200 species of mites, and on Scarabaeidae, just two on Tenebrionidae, even when corrected even when I removed collection contaminants and a reasonable seven on Chrysomelidae. for the larger size (very old specimens were often attacked by Nevertheless, I estimate that if 30% of of pterostichines. In The well known and the disaster zone: Left, Cosmetolaelaps dolicacanthus, one of the 21 identifiable species, Right, an acarid phoretic deutonymph, of which a mites, and their century-old mite mummies Australian Carabidae have their own species of Scarabaeidae, mites nightmarish diversity was found. photo owen seeman qm sem david evans walter

18 19 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89

Size and habitat matter. of insects (% of species in size classes 0-5 mm, the above estimate suggests there would about Big scarabs have plenty 5-10 mm, 10-20 mm, > 20 mm), and applied 8,000 mite species associated with them. So, to of mites, but if we to all insect species my probability of finding help correct for this, I reduced the estimate by compare dung-scarabs a mite species on a beetle species according to 100% minus 1% for each mite-insect record for with similar-sized non- their size (16/49/78/90%). I then thought about that group. Unsatisfactory, but something had dung scarabs, mites are the kinds of mites we knew from these insects. to be done! far more prevalent on Were most of them parasites in all life stages With this approach, I still find very close to a these. Blue = average size (1:1.5), parasitic in one life stage (1:2.3) or 1:4 ratio (1:3.4), again supporting the 1:4 ratio of beetles, white range = mostly phoretic (1:3.8)? Or were they a mixed of Larsen et al. (2017) but further from a 1:1 range of beetle sizes. bunch? (1:2.5). This decreased the estimate by ratio. That gives us an estimate of ca. 305,000 the appropriate amount. mite species that should be associated with the Preliminary model However, this alone isn’t good enough. 1.02 million insect species currently described. First, I used my Consider even a small group, like fleas (2000 And it’s the “champion” groups that contribute own data or surveys spp.) - this model would still predict 84 species to this estimate — insects that are large, live of others (e.g., 3.5 my work didn’t come close to debunking the 1:4 of mites from fleas which, considering how close to the ground, live socially or use patchy mite species per one ant species, 1 mite species ratio for mites on insects of Larsen et al. (2017) well-studied they are, is ridiculous considering resources. Mites love these insects more than per 50 Plecoptera species) to get a ratio of mite and could even support ideas of a 1:1 ratio that mites rarely, if ever, form relationships with others. species: insect species in a group (either orders (which is what I found!). However, there seemed them. Diverse groups of bigger insects, such What’s also important are the types of insects or, within orders, families with > 3,000 species). to be more to it, especially considering the as erebid moths, are even more of a problem: that remain to be described, and how many of When there was no survey data — and there different ratios of mite species to insect species despite just a handful of mite-erebid records, them there are. First, the 40.8 million non-mite often isn’t — I estimated it. First, I estimated a present not only within Coleoptera, but surely rough size distribution for each order or family Three very different kinds of mites that spend their entire lives on their hosts. Left: Micromegistus (Mesostigmata). other insect groups too. Middle: an unknown genus of Laelapidae (Mesostigmata). Right: Heterocoptidae (Astigmatina) owen seeman qm

20 21 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89 arthropods of Larsen et al. (2017) is on the high Acknowledgements side: a more realistic estimate is the 5.5 million This talk was first prepared for the AES/ASA/SSAB of Stork (2018), for example. conference last year, and I am very grateful for the support Colour and movement of the Australasian Arachnological Society, for whom I was No matter how many remain to be described, their nominated plenary speaker. I’d also especially like eceiving Caitlan Henderson’s images of they’re mostly small, and are in groups that to thank Susan Wright and Karin Koch, the entomology Cosmophasis darwini from the Northern Robert Whyte on the secrets to have very few known relationships with mites: collection managers at QM, who were very patient with me Territory (see below) brought home to popular success microhymenoptera, tiny beetles and flies, as I scoured the collection for mites. I’d also like to thank R me something I have often contemplated. Çolour small-medium moths, small Hemiptera — all Christine Lambkin and Chris Burwell for their permission and movement are key factors in the popularity very unlikely to have more than a scattering to do so, also Geoff Monteith, who collected > 50% of all of spiders. of mite-insect relationships (albeit likely to be beetles sampled, indicative of his enormous contribution to the QM collection, and Helen Nahrung, for her kind Peacock spiders, Maratus and Saratus are interesting ones, but is there any other sort?!). and helpful comments on an early draft. Numerous winning the popularity race, daylight second, Thus, my estimate of 305,000 mite species people contributed photos to my talk and, in this article, with their male dance routines captivating an in mite-insect relationships may not increase I thank Dave Walter, Jeff Wright and Geoff Monteith. This audience not generally fond of spiders. too much. Once we add a more likely 1:1 ratio project was funded by an ABRS research grant and the Yet there are more colourful species than of mites to vascular plants (391,000) and add Queensland Museum. This article previously appeared in just Peacock Spiders and in some tropical and the very significant contribution of soil mites the Entomological Society of Queensland NEWS BULLETIN. subtropical species the females have brilliant — perhaps the biggest mystery of all — then References colours, sometimes outshining the males. hypotheses just pipping the million species mark Larsen, B.B. et al. (2017) Inordinate fondness multiplied and Peacock Spiders, on the other hand, have drab (= 5% of mites already described) seem more redistributed: the number of species on Earth and the new females, often almost impossible to determine Cosmophasis micarioides, the female of this species has palatable. That’s still an immense number of pie of life. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 92: 229-265. to species without their males and being able to stunning colours. iain macaulay species. Not quite in the realm of insects, but Stork, N.E. (2018) How many species of insects and other observe a successful mating sequence. world you begin to see colour everywhere, in up there with their most diverse groups, and terrestrial arthropods are there on Earth? Annual Review of The Peacock Spider males, like peacocks crab spiders, uloborids, orb weavers, arkyids, to describe them is a supremely challenging Entomology, 63:31-45. themselves, are incorrigible show-offs, zodariids, redbacks and relatives, just to name journey or dark chasm of despair, depending on Walter, D.E. & Proctor, H.C. (2013) Mites: Ecology, Evolution & Behaviour. Life at a microscale. Second edition. Springer: displaying their colourful fan to attract the a few. With more videos coming online for your outlook! New York. 494 pp. interest of the female and, more recently, diagnostic as well as entertainment purposes, Megisthanidae and Fedrizziidae on a passalid beetle. Little wonder there are more families of mites on these countless macro-photographers. the popularity of spiders will continue to rise. insects than any other: they’re one of the largest social insects and nest in resource-rich rotting logs. Once you begin to look into the closeup

Cosmophasis darwini, the male to the left, has dramatic UV-reflecting scales. caitlin henderson

22 23 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89 My mission is to create spider art that shows the beauty in spiders and their homes, and to teach people that spiders are not as scary as the Hollywood movies portray them. As I continue to paint them, I know I will Spider Artistry continue to learn more and more. I am enjoying this journey! You can follow my journey on Facebook (Renata Wright Art), Instagram Renata Wright gives us a glimpse locations, but I am learning every time I paint a (Renata Wright Art), or my website - www. into the day-to-day life of a spider new one. renatawrightart.net. Kind regards Renata artist inspired by Peacock Spider I am fortunate to know Jürgen Otto who has Wright 0450 524 229. given me permission to use his peacock spider photos. photos as reference material for my paintings— definitely a favourite subject. I have a few other Facing page, Deinopis subrufa, the Ogre-faced joined the Australasian Arachnological resources who allow me to use their photos too, Netcaster, photo by Michael Doe. This page top right Society because of my interest in creating and of course, I paint spiders that I find and Maratus personatus Masked Peacock Spider and below Ipaintings of spiders. photograph myself. I am also making many new Maratus purcellae Purcell’s Peacock Spider, photos by I am very much an amateur when it comes to spider friends every day and I love how there’s Jürgen Otto. paintings by renata wright knowledge of spiders, their names, habitats and a community out there who enjoy sharing their knowledge and news about these remarkable creatures. As a “spider artist” I have a bit of a dilemma because I’ve chosen a subject that the general public would not consider buying and hanging on their wall. This means I’ve limited my market. My paintings are more creative rather than scientifically correct so may not appeal to arachnologists So who is my market? I have decided to leave that up to the spider fans of the big wide world. I do have a few loyal fans who continue to buy my art and for that I am eternally grateful

24 25 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89 Two common overlapping Argiope spp. with ventral views for identification

Comparing Argiope picta with Argiope abdominal markings of these species which, The yellow stripes on A. keyserlingi are Abdominal Shape taken together, have enabled identification from generally thinner from the epigyne to the bulge On A. picta the abdomen is longer but keyserlingi from a ventral viewpoint. Text a ventral perspective alone. followed by a noticeable narrowing or even narrower than a similarly sized A. keyserlingi. and images by Graham Winterflood a gap between the bulge and the posterior Yellow Stripes segment of the stripe. Additionally on A. Supplementary observations orsal abdominal markings of female The yellow stripes can be thought of as keyserlingi the rear segment of each stripe is Adult Argiope picta have been observed on Argiope picta and Argiope keyserlingi having two segments. The anterior segment is displaced laterally inwards forming a zig-zag webs with stabilimenta composed of just two Dvary sufficiently to present no difficulty roughly 60 per cent of the total length and the join at the bulge. radials aligned nearly vertically, whereas the with identification. From below, however, the posterior segment is 40 per cent. similar looking Argiope keyserlingi build web markings on female Argiope picta and Argiope There is a whitish bulge at the join of the two White Spots decorations in the shape of an “X” (or parts keyserlingi look almost identical. segments, and the posterior segment narrows On A. picta the middle two of six spots are thereof) of up to four components. On A. picta They both have two longitudinal yellow markedly as it approaches the spinnerets. The noticeably smaller than the outer four, may be the leg bands tend to contrast more in colour stripes running from beside the epigyne to the yellow stripes on A. picta are generally wider circular in form, and occasionally one may be and be more numerous than on A. keyserlingi. posterior of the spinnerets and they both have than on A. keyserlingi and flow continuously absent. On A. keyserlingi the middle two spots These characteristics may aid with identification six white spots between the yellow stripes. from the epigyne through the bulge to the are barely smaller than the outer four and are in the field. Nevertheless, there are subtle differences in the posterior of the spinnerets. ovate.

Argiope picta, below left dorsal view, below right ventral view. graham winterflood Argiope keyserlingi, below left ventral view, below right dorsal view. graham winterflood

26 27 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89 Thomisids of Wingham

Steve Woodman was intrigued and enthused are seldom noticed. A dedicated search will be when he discovered new species of Crab richly rewarded. Spiders in his garden. The result was a book on Known as a sit-and-wait predators, Crab crab spiders with a second one in the pipeline. Spiders do not use webs to catch prey, nor do Here is a taste of his work. they actively hunt like Salticidae (Jumping Spiders). They wait on a flower, leaf, grass stem he family Thomisidae, commonly or twig. In a blink of an eye they snatch any known as Crab Spiders, is rich in form unwary insect that strays within the compass of Tand colour. True to their common name their outstretched front legs. They are able to they have a decidedly crab-like appearance. bring down prey many times their size. The front two pairs of legs generally are much longer and more robust than the rear pairs. With Taxonomy a distinctive cephalothorax and an inclination The taxonomy of Thomisidae is in a state to hide in plain sight, they are excellent of flux, as are many other Australian spider photographic subjects. families, with redescriptions of genera and Thomisids are cryptic spiders, mostly around species regularly appearing in the literature as 5 mm in body length, so well camouflaged they their relationships with each other are sorted

This species, nicknamed ‘Leopard’ is possibly Australomisidia Above left a Zygometis sp. From my garden, and on the right a Sidymella sp. From Wingham Brush Nature kangarooblaszaki. steve woodman Reserve. steve woodman out. This process is complemented by the Wingham NSW plethora of undescribed species that are being Wingham is a small rural town situated near photographed by amateurs and brought to the the picturesque Manning River in the Mid attention of taxonomists. North Coast of NSW. It boasts a number of nearby national parks, and has several natural A multitude of forms areas within its precincts, the jewel in the Thomisidae come in all shapes and sizes. crown being Wingham Brush Nature Reserve, From the tiny Bomis to the bulky Stephanopis, a small area of sub-tropical rainforest close to the long bodied Runcinia, the round Boomerangia, to the trapezoidal Sidymella. In colour they range from the green Cetratus and Hedana to yellow and white Tharrhalea and the smiley-face markings of Zygometis, not to mention the bandit mask of Tharpyna. Worldwide there are currently 175 named genera and over 2,100 described species of Thomisidae. Of the 23 genera found in Australia, many of which are endemic to this continent, I’ve been fortunate enough to photograph 15 in my local neighbourhood. 28 29 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89 the riverbank preserved and cared for by local volunteers. Here, and in nearby Chrissy Gollan Park, I have found some gorgeous specimens. When on a photographic excursion I approach each leaf and twig with the anticipation of a gold prospector, and experience the same jolt of excitement as they do on seeing a flash of colour in the pan. Finding and recording Thomisids is a richly rewarding endeavour, and there are truly nuggets to be found in Wingham.

Edina and Edgar My favourite Thomisid is the one which kickstarted my obsession with Crab Spiders. Robert Whyte nicknamed it ‘Edina’ (female) and ‘Edgar’ (male). It comes in a variety of shades from white to hot pink and then onto grape. One of these appears in Robert Whyte

Below left A crab spider nicknamed ‘Woodfordia’ from Wingham Brush Nature Reserve (also found at the From Chrissy Gollan Park above left Sidymella rubrosignata. Above right a Sidymella with unusual white-coloured Woodfordia Planting Festival 2017 and 2018 and at Carlo Point during the 2018 Cooloola Bioblitz reported in rear legs. From Wingham Brush, below left Tmarus sp. below right Sidymellla aff. hirsuta. steve woodman Australasian Arachnology 87). Below right, the pink version of ‘Edina’. Above, Stephanopis barbipes. steve woodman

30 31 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89 and Greg Anderson’s, A Field Guide to Spiders Spiders in general are a joy to photograph, of Australia. and there are many avid photographers I am currently adding to my image library posting exciting new finds on Facebook, You must be Jotusing of well over 1000 Thomisidae specimens, and Flickr, Instagram and Twitter. Many of us ecently Barbara Baehr, Joseph Schubert my mission is to record the family’s presence in have our favourite family, genus and species, and Danilo Harms published a review of Robert Whyte reports on some Jotus the MidCoast Council Region (covering 10,000 and whatever yours may be, I encourage you some Jotus from Eastern Australia. species yet to be taxonomically square kilometres with over 20 national parks to be on the lookout for crab spiders next time R They redescribed Jotus auripes, J. braccatus described. and reserves). I hope to have a book ready in you’re turning over a leaf — you won’t be and J. minutus and described five new species a year or so. My first book on Thomisidae, disappointed. Jotus albimanus, J. fortiniae, J. karllagerfeldi, There’s a Crab Spider in my Back Yard, is still Jotus moonensis and J. newtoni. available on ebay. Text and images by Steve Woodman While the authors noted specimens are strangely rare in museum collections, I think these will represent just the tip of the iceberg, in terms of range of Jotus which are likely to be described over time. I find them to be quite common in the wild and have many photographs of undescribed species.

This undescribed species from Far North Queensland has the classic Jotus features, its first pair of legs are decorated with a brush of black setae and a triangular fan of white setae on the tarsus, contributing to the common name for the group, the Brush-Legged Jumping Spiders. Other Jotus markers include red setae on the face around the anterior median eyes and iridescent setae on the carapace. White setae decorate the pedipalps and the carapace sides and rear. Zoom in to see details. iain macaulay An undescribed species from Far North Queensland with a distinctive zebra-like pattern. iain macaulay

This species from Springwood near Brisbane with its Another photo of the Jotus from Far North Queensland A new Crab Spider nicknamed ‘Edina’ misidentified in Mascord 1980 as Diaea iridescent blue green setae on the pedipalps is proba- is displaying the stunningly blue colours of the eyes punctata steve woodman bly closely related to Jotus auripes. iain macaulay when viewed from certain angles. robert whyte

32 33 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89 Bungendore Park WA

Up until February 2015, the fauna list for cockatoos unique to . Bungendore Park was only known for a The park was officially named Bungendore small number of amphibians, reptiles, birds Park in 1973. A management committee was and mammals. established in June 1981. It has always had a member of the Armadale Branch of the avid and Fleur Knowles of Spineless Wildflower Society of Western Australia on the Wonders were employed by the committee. It is virtually weed free. DBungendore Park Environmental Group Research over the years has focused on birds to carry out a macroinvertebrate sampling of Bungendore Park and other vertebrates, regime. including a PhD study on bats. These have been The first stage was a desktop survey. The well documented in publications. second stage involved sampling macrofauna to With the rich diversity of the flora, the produce new records. management group decided that the macro- The sampling regime focused on three day- invertebrates of the park needed to be studied, night samples of two dominant tree species, not just as a record for Bungendore Park, but Yarri in January and Marri in full flower later also as key example for use in bush management in summer and the third day-night in the locally. botanically-diverse Cooliabberra Spring area in late spring. Interested to know more? Unexpected biodiversity sampling boons If you would like to follow up on the survey came in October 2016, September 2017 and referred to here, write to David and Fleur August 2018 when members of the WA Insect Knowles [email protected] Study Society spent time in the park in prime collecting conditions.

Background Bungendore Park was gazetted as a reserve in 1897 for timber extraction. About five kilometres from Armadale city centre, along the Albany Highway, this 498 ha reserve is a fine example of remnant Jarrah forest, with Jarrah- Marri, Wandoo and Yarri associations. It is of great value environmentally and as an amenity. In 1908 the reserve was reclassified as an ‘A’ class reserve and the vesting purposes changed to Parkland. Situated on the western edge of the Darling Scarp, the park includes a wide range of soils, topography and vegetation types, resulting in a rich and diverse flora and associated fauna. It provides habitat for all three species of the black Yarri light trap looking north alex leach David Knowles sampling the flowering canopy. fleur knowles

34 35 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89

of our ABRS funded project are to molecularly genus Plebs documented the distribution of and morphologically characterise and establish the genus to reach into Asia and also identified A new Australian subfamily a new subfamily of orb-weaving spiders for the species on the Indian subcontinent providing ‘Backobourkiines’ (currently mainly known testable hypotheses (dispersal vs vicariance) of garden orb-weavers from Australia) and develop a taxonomic and of far-reaching biogeographic relevance systematic framework for all genera of the (Joseph & Framenau 2012). Additionally, (including the form and function of web subfamily. It will revise ca. 50 described species, solving the phylogenetic relationships of the Australian Biological Resources stabilimenta), but also addressed spider mating many currently misplaced in the Holarctic backobourkiines, including an interpretation of Study is funding the taxonomy and behaviour (e.g. sperm competition and sexual or Nearctic genera Araneus and Eriophora, morphological characters and their evolution, size dimorphism) and foraging tactics. Araneid and describe an estimated 80 new species in will greatly inform evolutionary patterns systematics of the ‘backobourkiine’ a total of 15 genera. Currently valid genera beyond the subfamily level. spiders. Story by Pedro Castanheira spiders have also been the focus of considerable applied research investigations, e.g. in pest that belong to the ‘backobourkiines’, some The project will commence in January 2021 & Volker W. Framenau, Harry Butler control, pharmacology, venom research and the reviewed or revised, include Backobourkia, and run over three years, currently delayed by Institute, Murdoch University WA. mechanical properties of silk (see references in Plebs, Lariniophora, Acroaspis, Carepalxis, six months due to COVID-19 related travel Scharff et al. 2020). Novakiella and Singa (Scharff et al. 2020). restriction for Pedro Castanheira to relocate to n Australia, a total of 207 species elevate Scharff et al’s. (2020) world-wide molecular The project will be spearheaded by Pedro Australia. It will benefit greatly from a previous the Araneidae to one of the most diverse systematic study on the Araneidae has, for the Castanheira and Volker Framenau based at the ABRS-funded research grant during which spider families based on the number of first time, established testable hypotheses at the Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Volker Framenau and Nikolaj Scharff have I but represents an international collaboration already examined and in many cases illustrated described taxa, only trailing the jumping spiders subfamily level for the Araneidae and therefore (Salticidae – 466 species) and the ant-eating provided the systematic framework to tackle with Ass. Prof. Abha Chopra (Institute for species of Australian backobourkiines. Please spiders (Zodariidae – 257 species). For all these, the taxonomy of this diverse group of spiders Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Murdoch drop us an email if you have any questions or real diversity is likely to by higher by a factor of in manageable clades of related species. The University where the molecular analyses will be specimens for examination for this exciting between 3 or 4. study showed a highly paraphyletic ‘Araneinae’ conducted), Prof. Nikolaj Scharff (University project! Email: pedrocastanheira.bio@gmail. For many, justified or not, the large orb- (a subfamily based on the genus they were of Copenhagen), Ass. Prof. Dimitar Dimitrov com weaving spiders in the family Araneidae hanging historically described in — Epeira — today a (University of Bergen) and Dr Renner Baptista References upside down in an orbicular orb-web epitomise junior synonym of Araneus) and the Australian (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro). Joseph, M. M., & Framenau, V. W. (2012). what a spider is. fauna split into at least two large clades The significance of the project reaches Systematic review of a new orb-weaving spider Members of the Araneidae have been the representing new regional subfamilies of orb- beyond its main geographic scope. It will genus (Araneae: Araneidae), with special subject of considerable ecological, phylogenetic weaving spiders, termed the ‘Backobourkiines’ also provide the baseline for other taxonomic reference to the Australasian-Pacific and South- and evolutionary research. These studies and the ‘Zealaraneines’ in addition to some revisions of Araneidae from neighbouring East Asian fauna. Zoological Journal of the investigated some classical evolutionary species currently unplaced due to lack of countries as backobourkiines are known from Linnean Society, 166: 279–341. problems, e.g. the evolution of web forms phylogenetic support. the Pacific region, South-east Asia and China. Scharff, N., Coddington, J. A., Blackledge, The Australasian ‘backobourkiine’ clade Similarly, the revision of the garden orb-weaving T. A., Agnarsson, I., Framenau, V. W., Szüts, T., includes some of the largest and most Hayashi, C. Y. & Dimitrov, D. (2020). Phylogeny conspicuous orb-weaving spiders in Australia, of the orb-weaving spider family Araneidae including many of the colloquially termed and (Araneae: Araneoidea). Cladistics 36(1): 1–21. ubiquitous ‘garden orb-weavers’. The objectives doi:10.1111/cla.12382.

This female orb-weaving spider belongs to a common eastern Australian species and is closely related to The genus Carepalxis belongs to the ‘backobourkiine’ Eriophora biapicata and E. transmarina. Both of these clade that is the focus of a taxonomic and systematic are misplaced in Eriophora which is a largely Nearctic revision at the Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch Univer- genus. All three species, and others such as Araneus sity (2021–2023). Males of the genus are diagnosed by urbanus and A. scutigerens, will be transferred to a new genitalic characters of the complex pedipalps, a strong genus as part of our project which will also provide spine on the tibia of the second leg and the shape of keys for the identification of all species. the cephalic area.

36 37 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89

Sarah Crews follows up My dream of visiting every with a report on her latest visit to Australia to search pile of rocks in Australia for

n May 2019, I had the good fortune to be only vicious rock wallabies to be found. invited to accompany two botanists to There were more surprises at Mt. Surprise IQueensland to work on Cycas. What?! Station where I found... guess... another new Plants!? Well, I’ll never pass up a trip to species. But then I went to Porcupine Gorge – uncharted (or even charted) selenopid territory. prime selenopid habitat – nothing. Admittedly I must fulfill my dream of visiting every pile of my time there was brief. (Just because I don’t rocks in Australia. find them definitely doesn’t mean they aren’t The botanists were Manuel Luján, at my there.) institution (California Academy of Sciences), We headed toward Boodjamulla where I was sure we would find a new species... and we did. However, we looked around Mt. Isa where they had supposedly been seen and found nothing. They aren’t difficult to rear... but it does take great! On the way back we stopped at the Mary a lot of patience and focus since they take a But then coronavirus came along. The good Kathleen mine. When I drove up, I thought while to mature. As of this writing, more than thing, though, is that it has provided me with “Oh, we’ll be out of here in 15 minutes with a a year later, there are some that are still not plenty of time to get the new species described. ton of Karaops.” Two people looking for three adults. This means things are looking good for being hours and... nothing! Nary an eggsac or a shed When I returned to California, I received able to submit a paper this year, and with the skin. So, it’s a pile of rocks I’ll need to revisit. I a loan from the Queensland Museum, with new material continuously arriving, for years cannot accept that they do not live there. I will a number of selenopids Robert Raven had ahead. not take no for an answer. fossicked out of the collection. They were from As we continued our drive we stopped at a areas near where some species had been found Images: Opposite page Mt. Surprise Station, above little rest area in the Drummond Range. I wasn’t previously, so I assumed they would be those Dinosaur Stampede NP, bottom left Karaops sp. and Patrick Griffith from the Montgomery even really looking for selenopids there... BUT, species. Guess what... They weren’t. And they n., O’Brien’s Creek, bottom right Karaops sp. n., Botanical Center in Florida. I was the general we found them there as well. were new. Boodjamulla. factotum, guide and troubleshooter on the trip, At Mt. Inkerman Lookout, which is I was actually supposed to have done another getting the opportunity to search for my beloved especially interesting because it is an isolated trip with Manuel this year – it was going to be Karaops whenever I could. hill surrounded by flat farmland, I found more. With Karaops it can be either feast or famine. Every place I’m sure they will be, I can’t find Growing them on them. Every place I’m doubtful they will be Arachnologists determine species by looking found, they are swarming all over the place. at spider genitalia. Subadult spiders, however, Rarely do the stars align, at least in Queensland. do not have genitalia. In some locations I only Around Coen I was able to collect several had sub-adults. It would be such a shame to find specimens of Karaops monteithi, including new species and verifying them with DNA, yet the undescribed male. There had been some to be unable to describe them. sightings of Karaops near Cobbold Gorge, and Luckily, one of Robert Whyte’s colleagues, looking around in that area produced members Liam Bromley, took on the task of rearing a of a new species. significantly large number of specimens. As Granite Gorge is nearby and looks like it a result many new species will have full, valid would be full of selenopids – but there were descriptions from multiple specimens.

38 39 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89 Huntsman subdued and dragged off Call for Heteropoda photos and specimens from the Sydney area Here, a subdued and carried away by a pompilid wasp. If you see a Heteropoda sp. in the Sydney area please take a photo, jot rian Jenkins has witnessed this several Photos 1-5 by Brian Jenkins. Photo bottom right, some down date, time and location and notify [email protected]. sphecid wasps also provision their nests with spiders. times in recent years in the backyard of Experienced spider handlers will be invited to collect specimens. Bhis home in Safety Bay, Western Australia. These mud dauber nests contain multiple smaller The wasp’s nest is usually located in the roof spiders, unlike the pompilids that use one large prey of the house. The spider is dragged up the item. helen smith am investigating the distribution of from slides would also be very useful. If you brickwork after being immobilised. Heteropoda species in the wider Sydney think Heteropoda have recently appeared Iarea. The species H. longipes was the only or disappeared in your area, that is useful Australian Heteropoda species recorded from information too. Sydney by Davies (1994), although a specimen If you can help, please contact me via my of H. venatoria was also noted. Australian Museum email address, or send However, since that time, H. jugulans has photos via a file transfer or Dropbox system. established and is now common in some areas, Thanks everyone! possibly another species is present too. To help Contact: [email protected] inform correct identification on platforms such as iNaturalist, where any Sydney Heteropoda 1 4 photo seems to get automatically identified as H. longipes, I am hoping to publish some information on the distribution of the species and provide some pointers to aid identification from photographs only. Heteropoda I am interested in specimens alive or dead, longipes, female, and clear photos. Medium to April 2020, photographed in large juveniles may be of a clear CD case use in addition to adults. to show relevant My main region of dorsal features. interest is from Newcastle 2 5 to the Illawarra and Blue Mountains. Clear photos of whole spiders and closeups are both good, and ventral shots are extremely useful. If you catch a spider alive then need to kill it before I can take it, please take photos first because parts of the abdominal pattern may change in alcohol. Date and suburb or area are essential information. 3 Old photos scanned

40 41 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89 Two stunning Bellawongarah spiders

n early 2018, I was fortunate enough to with prominent dark-orange dots. Many stumble across one of the most striking sparassids are quite dull in colour by Ispiders I have ever seen. This spider, which comparison, often only shades of brown and appears to belong to the genus Arkys [see editors’ grey. If this one is immature, which seems a note below], I came possibility, there’s a chance that these colours Lincoln Macgregor across during a night reports from might not reflect what the adult form looks Bellawongarah walk in a small gully in like. I haven’t been able to track down any info Bellawongarah, NSW. regarding this species so far. Hopefully I can The gully was full of arum lillies, which seem find these spiders again so that they can be to provide habitat for a wide variety of spiders studied in greater detail. which sit out on the leaves in the dark. This Arkys sp. was found sitting just on the Editors’ note. This story ran as a supplement edge of one of these leaves. Its body length to issue 88. Since then we have discovered the (excluding legs) was approximately 10mm. spider below looks like Arkys enigma, described Just a couple of months later I came across from Tasmania in 2019. Editor Helen Smith has another stunning spider in the same area. This a nagging feeling the Huntsman is a ‘known time belonging to the family Sparassidae. With unknown’ but hasn’t been able to find the its legs outstretched, the sparassid spider had a reference in her files. leg span of about 50 mm in diameter. I was amazed by its orange leg segments, Below, a beautiful Arkys sp. possibly Arkys enigma and opposite, a stunning sparassid. lincoln macgregor green cephalothorax and its white abdomen

42 43 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89 Searching for and finding Periegops News or an Australian travelling across the ditch fallen logs, deep leaf litter layers and well to New Zealand, a search for Periegops is a drained soil. must. It’s the only practical way of seeing No Periegops species has been observed Polish arachnologists studying Australian F Jumping Spiders — continuing the tradition this genus, which although it has been reported creating webs for prey capture, instead they from Queensland, Australia, no specimens have use silk to create drag lines and silk retreats. Hi, I’m Łukasz Trębicki, a biologist focused been found in the Periegops are likely all fast moving, nocturnal on arachnology. Currently I’m working at the Greg Anderson reports sunshine state since hunters. University of Lodz in Poland. from a New Zealand the early 1980s. In P. suterii, females have been found with two My research is focused on Australian jumping spidering expedition. An opportunity to three males with them, which may imply that spiders since I’ve started my PhD project at the to locate and look the female has a way of attracting males. University of Natural Science and Humanities at this genus came when arachnologists gathered Hinewai Reserve was initially a 109 ha block in Siedlce, Poland under the supervision of Above, one of the ‘puzzling’ Cytaea, officially Cytaea in New Zealand for the recent arachnological of farmland bought by the Maurice White Professor Marek Zabka. plumbeiventris, likely to split into three separate congress reported in the previous issue, Native Forest Trust in September 1987 and is In my thesis I sought to solve a number species. robert whyte Below Łukasz Trębicki in the field. Australasian Arachnology 88. now 1230 ha of gorse and regenerating native of taxonomical problems with Cytaea, an Periegops is a genus of spiders with six eyes, bush. enigmatic, ‘puzzling’ genus. rather than the more common eight. It is the Applying an integrative approach, I only genus in its family Periegopidae, considered established monophyly of the genus, the to be in Segestriidae until Raymond Forster distribution range and the location of elevated it to family level in 1995. diversity hotspots. I found that the number The genus Periegops was first described in of Cytaea species is highly underestimated 1893 by Eugene Simon from a specimen he and the genus itself is an interesting model named P. hirsutus (a synonym of P. suterii named for future studies, for example, on the impact by Urquhart in genus Segestria). of sexual selection on species and genus Periegops occur in forest habitat featuring evolution. At the moment I’m completing data for publications where redescriptions and taxonomic changes to Cytaea species Top right, the reserve. will be included. Many representatives were knowledge about the diversity Right, the successful described in the 19th century and their of their taxa in tropical regions and also about hunting party. The identification to the species level is problematic. the history of evolution and distribution of person searching in the This kind of basic research will allow for genera. rotting log is well known complete revision of the genus and proper new In December 2019 I visited Australia arachnologist Martin species descriptions. participating in the Australian Entomological Ramírez from the Museo In the last months I’ve been working Society Conference in Brisbane. Argentino de Ciencias abroad, starting new projects. November After the conference I met Robert Whyte, we Naturales. The audio was 2019, I participated in an expedition to the did some fieldwork and lab studies on jumping being grabbed by a local Philippines and in January/February 2020 in spiders. In following weeks I made research television station. They Thailand with zoologists and botanists from came out to film all these visit at the Department of Jobs, Precincts and University of Lodz. One of the important goals weird people running Regions, Agriculture Victoria Research, of of the University of Lodz is supporting and around the countryside AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Horsham, peering into bushes developing research on biodiversity of tropical Victoria. In Australia I’ve been focused on and under logs. Inset, a regions, mostly in the Philippines, Thailand enriching knowledge about Salticidae and their Periegops in the hand. and Colombia. During the expeditions I’ve habitats. I’ve been collecting spiders, data as greg anderson been focused on collecting jumping spiders well as photographing living specimens. This and information about them to enrich the was a very fruitful time.

44 45 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89 News News

The malkarid spiders of New Zealand, distribution of specimen QuestaGame and Innovative Technology Hormiga, G. & Scharff, N. 2020 records of 11 new What’s your favourite Star Wars creature? The Malkarids are small araneoid spiders that species of New Zealand slimy dianogas with their single bulbous eye? live primarily in the leaf litter and mosses of Malkaridae. We also That big-eared, crystal-furred vulptex in The temperate and tropical wet forests in Australia treat the phylogenetic Last Jedi? Or is it the spiny orb-weaver with its and New Zealand, with the exception of a relationships of wide, bright yellow abdomen covered in spikes? single species in southern South America and Malkaridae and use the This last one, of course, was never in Star another in New Caledonia. We treat the New results of our previous Wars. But it could have been. As could so many Zealand species of Malkaridae that are not work on the molecular phylogeny of spiders and other flora and fauna people are members of the subfamily Pararchaeinae, a Araneoidea as the bases for the classification discovering every day while playing the popular monophyletic group of 11 new species that of the family. We further hypothesise and QuestaGame mobile app in their backyards, we classify in 2 new genera (Tingotingo, gen. discuss the morphological synapomorphies of neighbourhoods and parks. nov. and Whakamoke, gen. nov.) and a new Malkaridae, Tingotinginae, subfam. nov. and “Spiders and moths are the ones people Indigi-Quest project for indigenous knowledge, subfamily (Tingotinginae, subfam. nov.). We the two new genera. get most excited about when they make new two brand new games for younger audiences, describe, diagnose, illustrate and map the discoveries,” says Mallika Robinson, co-founder and an app called QuestaPro designed for and board member of the Cairns-based researchers, ecologists and those interested in Earth Guardians, the company that develops running a citizen science project to map specific Taxonomy and Phylogenetics of Tawhai, gen. nov., QuestaGame. taxon groups. Nanometinae and other Australasian Orb- Harlanethis, gen. nov., Discovery is what Earth Guardians is all These can be seen at https://launchpad. Weaving Spiders, Álvarez-Padilla, F., Kallal, and Iamarra, gen. nov. about. The company builds digital technologies earthguardians.life (password = liftoff). R.J., & Hormiga, G. 2020 We also synonymize designed to awaken people to the miraculous In August, during National Science The spider family Tetragnathidae Menge is Nediphya Marusik and creatures all around them. Week, QuestaGame will run its annual a cosmopolitan, relatively well-studied spider Omelko, 2017, and With sponsorships from CSIRO, Google GreatAussieBioQuest.com), the largest bioblitz clade with some members readily identifiable the monotypic genus and the Ministry of Industry, Science and in Australia — part of a federally funded by their elongate chelicerae or their horizontal Eryciniolia Strand, Technology, QuestaGame launched the Bushfire program with Inspire Australia and round two orb webs. It has four recognized subfamilies, 1912, with Nanometa, Recovery BioQuest (https://questagame.com/ of QuestaGame’s World BioQuest. Tetragnathinae, Metainae, Leucauginae, and bringing the total recovery). Since March, QuestaGame players Given recent partnerships with the Ministry the Australasian endemic Nanometinae. Many number of species in have submitted over 20,000 observations, over of Education in India and SciStarter in the genera remain unassigned to subfamilial the genus from one to 14. 45,000 identifications, and mapped nearly 2000 US, the company expects a larger contingent groups. Nanometinae alpha taxonomy is the Nanometinae and its constituent genera unique species in the bushfire zones. from South Asia and the US this year. Recently least well understood of these lineages despite Nanometa and Pinkfloydia are reciprocally Then came COVID-19. Parents and teachers Australia Post honoured QuestaGame with a the inclusion of members of the subfamily in monophyletic. Harlanethis belongs to were suddenly working from home, looking for “citizen science” postage stamp. If the tribute a number of phylogenetic analyses over the Leucauginae. STEM activities is any indication, perhaps Robinson’s message past decade. Here “So we decided to launch our Science at is starting to be heard.“We’re busy pioneering we describe 10 new Unfinished web of Iamarra Home program, which saw 150 schools from technology to accelerate the mapping and species and revise multitheca at the base of around the world sign up in less than a week,” conservation of life on Earth. It’s a perfect time seven additional a tree from Crater Lakes says Robinson. “They formed teams and for Australia to step up and declare itself the tetragnathids from National Park, Queensland, Australia. Several turns of the competed in our Schools BioQuest (https:// world leader in biodiversity technology.” Australia, New nonsticky temporary spiral questagame.com/schools). Zealand, New remain in the web. gustavo While Earth Guardians is most well-known Story by Mallika Robinson QuestaGame images Caledonia, and Papua hormiga for QuestaGame, the company is working on compiled by Andrew Robinson New Guinea in the other groundbreaking projects, including the genera Nanometa, BioExpertise Engine (BioExpertise.org), an Taraire, gen. nov.,

46 47 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89 News News

Let’s be social spiders! identification workshops and the sharing Awareness skills through education and restoring our environment,” said Murray Increasing online engagement in of recent published work in the area of Increased heart rate, heavy breathing, the Scarce, Co-founder and CEO. arachnology across Australasia arachnology. So keep an eye out! If you have compulsion to run away or reach for the rolled “It is obvious that the human element is In light of many working from home and additional ideas for activities or ways you’d like up newspaper are well-known reactions many the constant factor with regard to damage living more isolated lives, we’d like to ramp up to get involved please send Lizzy an email lizzy. people experience when they see spiders. to our environment. Our team believe our community engagement. Being physically [email protected] The team at Critterpedia wants to change changing peoples’ mindsets and reversing their isolated doesn’t have to mean being socially We’re also keen to encourage arachnology these negative mindsets with their interactive phobias can be one of the keys to positive isolated! discourse online, so if you haven’t already, immersive educational platform. environmental change. Changing mindsets With so many activities now online it’s easier please join our facebook group https://www. Critterpedia will allow a user to take a photo starts with education. That is where our focus than ever to share our love of arachnology facebook.com/groups/988885801506659/ and of a spider (or snake) with a smart device. Its needs to be. We felt we had a responsibility to across Australia. follow us on Twitter! trained AI algorithm will attempt to identify the extend ourselves beyond business into social Dr Lizzy Lowe from Macquarie University photo to family, genus or species level. enterprise.” will be coordinating a range of events for Below Dr Lizzy Lowe with promotional poster and Successful in securing CSIRO Kick-Start the society including a seminar series, online puppet. funding for this part of the project and, From fear to fascination in collaboration with CSIRO’s Data61, “Spider enthusiasts especially are an Critterpedia is building a machine learning incredibly welcoming, generous and tight engine for automated spider and snake knit community. We really want to give back identification. to them, the herpetology community, and To realise their goal, Critterpedia has science, particularly citizen science, in any way developed positive business relationships we can. We strongly believe acknowledging with CSIRO, Ignite Alliance, SingularityU, these experts, including our citizen scientists, Josephmark and Advance Queensland, just to is critical. They make a lot of discoveries and name a few. put an incredible amount of work into the With the help of advisors including Robert field, work often overlooked or under-rated. Whyte and a further 29 of Australia’s top spider By incorporating education with really cool and snake experts, Critterpedia has been able technology, we’re hoping to bring people closer to jam-pack their platform with all kinds of to nature, allowing us all to happily coexist,” awareness, safety and educational tools. said Murray. The founders Nic and Murray Scarce have www.critterpedia.com seen their journey continue to morph and www.facebook.com/critterpediaapp pivot the further into this adventure they [email protected] get. What started solely as an identification Below Maratus volans, the ‘Flying’ Peacock spider, app is developing into a more rewarding is shown displaying in courtship. Peacock spiders, social enterprise that aims to eventually join winning hearts and minds all over the world for their forces with similar colourful dancing, are only found in Australia, organisations to tackle and are very small, adults biodiversity issues. from about 2 mm to “Critterpedia will the largest at around 7 be partnering with mm. As far as we know, other organisations to they are of no medical contribute our strengths importance for humans. with the ultimate illustration by KDS444 cc- aim of safeguarding by-sa-3.0

48 49 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89

Tribute to Dr Barbara York Main Poem for Barbara York Main by Dr Leanda Mason at UWA in Leanda Mason and Patricia Kennedy 1950 where she met Bert Over time and career we learn and we teach have given their permission to reproduce Main, ‘friend, colleague, Share knowledge and wisdom with those we can reach an edited version of their tribute here and beloved husband’. From formal instruction in methods and fact to honour the life of the late Adjunct He was also a Zoology To personal doctrines that shape how we act undergraduate. They Sometimes we’re lucky and we will be blessed Professor Barbara York Main. The full married in 1952. They With a capable mentor who inspires our best piece was published by CSIRO in Pacific both were awarded Respected and learned in their field or skill Conservation Biology. doctorates from UWA We follow direction, a vessel to fill in 1956; Barbara was Barbara York Main was a lady I followed arbara York Main was a Renaissance the first woman to earn Barbara York Main Down paths she has cleared, into niches she’s hollowed woman, one of those rare individuals a Ph.D. in Zoology from surveying North In hindsight it’s taken me years just to process Bungulla Reserve in who succeeded in multiple vocations. Her UWA. The foresight that Barbara invoked towards progress B 2015. grant wardell- A woman of science, a pioneer true passion for south-western Australia was evident Her doctoral johnson. Earned on her own merit and helped herself through in her essays and books on nature that focused dissertation concerning Hostile environments inside and out, primarily on her birthplace in the Central the evolution of trapdoor spiders synthesised Endured for pure research, not standing or clout Wheatbelt. She conducted many of her scientific the emergent paradigm of ecology with the Though humble, reclusive and hidden from sight investigations and enjoyed camping adventures older and well established biological disciplines Her books and her papers would shed quite a light with her family in this region. of natural history, evolution and biogeography. On my personal interest to study her spider Her talent brought to life the natural beauty Barbara wrote four books and over 90 I soon had a goal and sat down beside her of the Wheatbelt, as well as the social and scientific papers and book chapters. ‘Between Her patience, wisdom, and determined resilience ecological history describing how Wheatbelt Wodjil and Tor’ (1967) and ‘Twice Trodden Ethics and values of unquestioned brilliance settlement had separated this landscape from its Ground’ (1971) are classic accounts of Seeds that she felt were the right ones to sow ancient ecological patterns (Main 1967, 1971, the environmental costs of clearing native Indeed sprouted roots and continued to grow 1993). vegetation for the development of broadscale The great minds among us see forward and back Barbara was born in 1929 on a small farm in agriculture in the Wheatbelt. She was recognised Through time and tradition to pick up the slack Tammin, in the Central Wheatbelt. She had four nationally and internationally for her prolific Understanding the past for exploring the new brothers. Her family farm had approximately work on the natural history, biogeography and Reliable structures that extrapolate through Contributions of insight, experiments that start 8 ha of ‘nice bush around the homestead’ with taxonomy of mygalomorph spiders. Without any kudos or gain from this part abundant native biota. She loved exploring, and She studied the oldest known spider, which Longitudinal work in its slow onward grindings insects particularly intrigued her. she named ‘Number 16’ from its birth in 1974 Bestow on the next generation deep findings Barbara started high school with in North Bungulla Nature Reserve to its death And then there’s the story of #16 correspondence courses up to her junior year in 2016. In 1981, the BBC and ABC produced a The oldest of spiders the world had yet seen then was awarded a scholarship that supported film about her work, ‘Lady of the Spiders’. A trapdoor whom Barbara discovered and tagged her boarding costs at Northam High School, Barbara and Bert had three children, Went virally famous when dead it was flagged where she matriculated. Rebecca, Gilbert and Monica. According Though honoured to speak on behalf of the study She knew that if she wanted to pursue to Monica, Barbara was a ‘very loving and It pains me that Barbara’s thoughts then got muddy entomology and nature writing she would supportive mother, with a playful sense of Too late moments of praise, recognition of worth, have to go to university. In this she followed her humour’ who ‘enjoyed reading children’s books Efforts and great contributions to earth mother who had been one of the first female aloud, just as much as [her children] enjoyed So much achieved, so much more to contribute students to attend the University of Western listening’. A lifetime of lessons passed on to distribute Australia (UWA). She died on 14 May 2019. A loving family, Through publishing, teaching or close demonstration She completed her Honours degree in and a community and scientific legacy remains. Humanity learns only from collaboration

50 51 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Australasian Arachnology 89

in indigenous cultures are totems. An system. QuestaGame also has a capacity to Introducing Ecoconnections ecoconnection is a bit like a science-age assist farmers in understanding what species totem, though not the same. A farmer watches of spiders they have in their systems. Andrew ’m really pleased to be able to write this biological dynamics with an eye for optimising Robinson from QuestaGame said I should speak article as it gives me a chance explain some Introducing Ecoconnections, a project yield. Just as a farmer can get a richer with Robert and we got moving. Iearly thinking behind starting this enterprise; to fund taxonomy, by Duncan Farquhar understanding of his system so perhaps could So, there are two ‘calls to action’ in this ‘Ecoconnections’. [email protected] everyone gain this window on the meanings in article. I am also particularly excited to follow Darko the relationships of life, without the pressure of 1) Engage with ecoconnections Cotoras’ article on ‘An ancient connection a financial bottom line. a. Get ecoconnected and encourage others to do the across the Pacific’ and his comment on Integrated Pest Management can deliver Naming a species gives us an ability to same. b. Encourage consumers and everyone to ecoconnect. permeating “our collective unconscious of benefits in build a more specific understanding of a c. Encourage farmers and farmer groups to the biological identity of where we live”. This 1) Better pest and disease control species. It is a first step. There are so many ecoconnect. 2) Fewer and/or more targeted chemical applications unknowns, how can we best chip away at comment goes to the core of the fun, joy, d. Large donors can ecoconnect many people for free 3) More enlightened and enjoyable farming them? Sometimes there are practical and urgent interest and impact of what an ecoconnection and focus on specific projects. This will help us fund To engage people, we needed to make it fun. crop protection and biosecurity reasons to aims to contribute. projects. Put simply the goal of Ecoconnections is This was not hard. From pointy-nosed mites uncover these relationships. Mostly not. So 2) Encourage farmers and farmer groups to play to connect every species to a person. It costs sucking the guts out of grazing pests to earwigs many species… but even more people. It is a QuestaGame (for free) and look for spiders. US$100 per species. The reason behind the cost chomping aphids and lacewing larvae disguising delegation challenge! Once you have a name, This will give data in specific systems. We could is to raise funds for taxonomy research. themselves with a coat of corpses. Looking at some stage, your mind might turn to ‘how establish specific industry ‘spider-blitzes’ if there I first came to arachnology working down a microscope is like watching Ridley Scott is it doing?’. This is where an ecoconnection is interest in a more detailed understanding of a with Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in ‘Alien’ movies. The dynamics of orchard and can help make life more enlightened and particular agroecology. Tasmanian Apples. Not only are arachnids vineyard ecology in Tasmania is fun! There are enjoyable. Once you tell someone about your Ecoconnections has produced short video colourful, interesting and fun; some are doing also lots of unknowns. species, the knowledge lives. This is why we have explainers of different aspects of the enterprise. a great job in crop protection. Thyphlodromas In writing this article I am pleased to again structured ecoconnections as a gift. It builds in These are some stills from these video pyri for example is an amazingly effective connect with Owen Seeman. Owen was some personal encouragement. Understanding explainers. https://www.ecoconnect.me predator of the Two Spotted Spider Mite working as an entomologist with the Tasmanian relationships with other species is fun. It is also (Tetranichus urticae), the European Red Newtown Research Laboratories insect potentially useful for their sake and ours. Mite (Panonynchus ulmi) and probably other collection upstairs from me when I worked Eriophyid mite pests too. Moving apple in IPM. You can see from Owen’s article how Spiders in Agriculture leaves around orchards and vineyards allowed this workplace stoked a fire of interest in the Given a history in IPM I was excited to establishment of this predator, essentially ecology, behaviour and taxonomy of arachnids. develop an ecoconnections funded project that eliminating the need for chemical control of Owen speaks here with expert clarity about the could potentially be useful in agriculture. Such these pests. different types of relationships between species. a project would benefit farming communities My role was in extension and industry What one species means to another is defined in helping them understand their own systems. development. Extension is about getting in these relationships. Clear thinking people It could also benefit consumers in that there information out of research papers and into like Owen, and you all, can promote interest could be options discovered to enhance spider practice. This means thinking through adult in arachnology and biology. Observation and populations for pesticide reduction. This is learning and how farmers engage with scientific friendly discussions, like mine with Owen, where I started talking to the ever-enthusiastic information. can help uncover these meanings for a broader Robert Whyte. understanding. ‘QuestaGame’, currently renaming to Integrated Pest Management involves I am particularly interested in the relationship ‘Earth Guardians’, are a first partner with 1) Understanding pest and disease lifecycles and between one species, us, and all others. We ecoconnect. Funds raised from ecoconnections ecologies. have relationships like food, exploitation, pets, are provided to QuestaGame to fund the ‘Pays 2) Monitoring seasonal populations and conditions. pathogens. IPBES recognise that indigenous to Know’ bioexpertise engine. This system 3) Applying biological, chemical and cultural control in peoples tend to manage landscapes with pays identifiers (to their preferred conservation response to economic damage thresholds. less species losses. One common approach partner) for identifications submitted to the

52 53 AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY Remembering Norm – Dr Norman Platnick n April 2020, the arachnological community lost a professional icon. I was privileged to Ihave known Norm and benefited from his incredible knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, our wonderful Aussie Tracey Churchill with arachnids. a personal memoir I first met Norm Norman Platnick was interviewed for AMNH’s Spiders of Norman Platnick in 1987 when I was Alive www.amnh.org/explore/ 1951-2020 surveying coastal heathland spiders for clearly at risk, we quickly rebuilt the pooters the Queen Victoria Museum in Launceston, with doubled over mesh and with great relief, Tasmania. I was delighted to have arachnophilic presented our precious consignment to Norm. company when Robert Raven from Queensland It was only after some delicious Australian red Museum guided Norm to the Apple Isle to wine over a hearty meal that we confessed to extract new secrets from the unique temperate Norm that we had, in fact, already eaten! rainforests. As Curator at the American After working on barychelids with Rob Museum of Natural History, Norm had funds Raven at the Queensland Museum, I went to the to revise anapids, micropholcommatids and Northern Territory to tackle the arachnological sister taxa in the Southern Hemisphere. In frontier of the tropical savannas. Another seeking these tiny litter and moss-dwelling decade and another inspirational visit from cuties, my ability to quickly spot specks of dirt Norm. He was touring Australia alongside with eight legs in litter trays soon gave me cred. Vladimir Ovtsharenko and Kefyn Catley with Even then, Norm wore very thick glasses. a particular focus on gnaphosoids and their In the expedition around Tasmania, we relatives. discovered new species that filled the pages of Norm thought it was a prank when I asked Norm and Ray Forster’s 1989 monograph and him to identify one particular spider that I had other papers, and I was rapidly educated about found in my kitchen sink at Humpty Doo. the Gondwanan ancestry of these fascinating Upon investigating the specimen he declared taxa. in a very surprised and unusually loud voice, One particular discovery was most “Oh my, you’ve got a cithaeronid.” The memorable. As the more agile members of the first record of the family for team, Rob and I had to scramble into a cave Australia! down a ravine to seek the valuable prize of I later spent a week in New York with Norm tiny orange specks on centimetre-wide webs at the AMNH where he generously tutored me on the limestone walls. We were relieved to in the unique morphological attributes of many find some and dutifully aspirated them into species, especially gnaphosids and prodidomids. the sample vials, only to find that they did not Norm was a kind and patient man with a make the journey. After a few of these failures, good sense of humour. I am truly sad that I will we shared our mutual conundrum and then not again have the privilege of surprising and realised the scary truth: the gauze mesh of the delighting Norman Platnick with a new spider pooter was too large! With our professionalism discovery. I treasure the memories.

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