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[email protected] Annapolis, MD 21401-3722 USA Fax: 301-731-4538 www.entsoc.org Proposal Form for new Common Name or Change of ESA-Approved Common Name Complete this form and send or e-mail to the above address. Submissions will not be considered unless this form is filled out completely. The proposer is expected to be familiar with the rules, recommendations, and procedures outlined in the “Use and Submission of Common Names” on the ESA website and with the discussion by A.B. Gurney, 1953, Journal of Economic Entomology 46:207-211. 1. Proposed new common name: Four species in the spider genus Cupiennius: 1) redfaced banana spider, 2) spotlegged banana spider, 3) redlegged banana spider, 4) Sale’s banana spider 2. Previously approved common name (if any): none 3. Scientific name (genus, species, author): 1) Cupiennius chiapanensis Medina, 2) Cupiennius getazi Simon, 3) Cupiennius coccineus F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 4) Cupiennius salei (Keyserling) Order: Araneae Family: Ctenidae Supporting Information 4. Reasons supporting the need for the proposed common name: For the last decade, I have been working on a project involving spiders that have been brought into North America in international cargo. I am in the process of summarizing the work and writing a manuscript. Some of these spiders are huge (leg span 50 to 70 mm) and typically cause strong reaction by cargo processors and produce handlers who discover these creatures when they are unloading and unpacking bananas. One of the spiders, C. chiapanensis, (which has bright red cheliceral hairs – see cover of American Entomologist, 2008, volume 54, issue 2) has caused several misidentifications by qualified arachnologists because 1) this spider was unknown until it was given its scientific name in 2006 and 2) prior to the 21st century, the only reference that many entomologists had to ID international spiders was a children’s book, The Golden Guide to Spiders by Levi and Levi.