Embarking on a different journey: volunteers in the Entomology collection

There is no better time to celebrate and recognise the support of museum volunteers, and particularly those in the Entomology during this Christmas festive season. While the Manchester Museum has been closed to visitors due to the “hello future project” (see here for more information), our volunteers have embarked on a different journey from the galleries to behind-the-scenes, showing the same enthusiasm and full dedication for the collections as they do to the museum visitors (see here the blogpost by Kate Glynn, Volunteer Manager).

During the last two years, since the Museum was closed, volunteers, usually in the galleries, have had the opportunity to support different collections and departments. They have played a key role in the Conservation Department helping to prepare the Japanese Incense Burner, which will become one of the central pieces in the newly built Museum’s entrance. Yet, in the Herbarium, they have been cataloguing plant specimens, transcribing labels with old, sometimes difficult to read handwriting, and bagging pressed plants to prevent the spreading of such biscuit beetles.

Since May 2022, the Entomology Department welcomed four enthusiastic volunteers. After an introduction given by Dmitri Logunov (former Curator of Arthropods) about possible tasks, our expectations and time required; it came as a big surprised when all the attendees decided to take up the challenge and to become part of the behind the scenes volunteer team. With no previous experience required, they were in good hands with full support from our small team along the way.

The Museum volunteers, Angharad, Niamh, Margaret and Vivien committed 4 hours per week, sometimes spending more time in the Entomology. They support re-arranging and documenting of the departmental archive, also and rehousing and databasing our spirit-preserved collections. A brief description of the tasks chosen by each volunteer is given below.

Angharad Denby has been rehousing Richard (Dick) Jones’ spider collection (around 10,000 tubes) acquired in 2017. This collection was re-curated and documented in 2019 but is still kept in small glass tubes with plastic stoppers in its original cabinet. However, a recent inspection revealed a high evaporation rate of the ethanol from sample tubes. It then became a priority to have this collection rehoused and stored more securely in the larger jars, in the spirit store. Angharad’s task is to change plastic stoppers of small glass tubes for cotton wool stoppers and to rehouse them in medium sized glass jars with clip-tops and airtight seals. She also conducts a similar task for Eric Duffey’s spider collection.

Angharad rehousing the identified and unidentified spiders from D. Jones’ collection

Niamh Roche has been supporting the digitization of the archive materials of Eric Duffey donated to the Museum by Rita Duffey (Eric’s widow). Eric was an ecologist and conservationist; he conducted spider faunas surveys in Britain and European regions. His archive contains long lists of species, habitats, maps from 1972, stories of spider bites and correspondence with other researchers. For more information about Eric’s legacy and life, see his obituary here.

Niahm documenting the archive of Eric Duffey

Vivien Mentern has been documenting a collection of European spiders donated by A. Russell-Smith. She is giving unique accession number to the samples, documenting species and specimens numbers and storing them more securely in clip-top jars after changing the plastic stopper to cotton wool ones. Her task will continue with the digitisation of the gained information to the Museum’s database.

Vivien working with samples of European spiders

Margaret McCadden has been digitizing beetle family (order Coleoptera) data from Colin Johnson (former Keeper of Entomology and British coleopterist). His archive contains species lists, many personal letters and documents, photographs and original beetle illustrations that were donated to the Museum by his family after Colin sadly passed away (see his obituary here). Margaret has made a digital list of the Manchester Museum Annual Reports from 1895 to 2003 also kept in the entomological archive. She also helps us to digitise the paperwork related to Acquisitions and Donations from 2004 to 2019.

Margaret digitising the acquisitions and donations received from 2004 to 2019

We would like to thank Phillip Rispin (former Curatorial Assistant and Honorary Curator) for his dedication to the collection and for sharing his knowledge and passion with visitors, researchers and volunteers.

Phil moving beetles specimens from a damaged box after a flooding in the Entomology store

We would also like to mention the work and commitment from the collection volunteers, many of them have gained experience in working with natural history collections and others have developed a real interest in insects. Many thanks to Beth Moran, Emily Hill, Piotr Korpak, James Jepson, Michael Pentland, Robert Tracey, Michael Dockery (Honorary Curator) and Libby (volunteered in Entomology for 3 months). The support given by all the volunteers will help us to better maintain and keep our entomological collections and increase their usefulness and value for various users.

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Publications related to the Manchester Museum’s Entomology Department, an 2021-22 update

A selection of the papers published in the last 2021-22 academic year, based on or containing references to specimens or collectors associated with Manchester Museum’s Entomology Department

This blogpost is the latest of the annual series summarizing publications based on Manchester Museum’s Entomology Collection over the last academic year. A total of 32 paper were published in the period between 1 August 2021 to 31 July 2022 referring to the specimens from our collection. Topics included the analysis of historical data, the support of conservation programs or ecological studies, and the legacy of collectors (including former Keeper of Entomology, Colin Johnson; Figure 1a). Descriptions of new species and accounts of particular MM’s arthropod collections are also presented. The publications were authored by more than 50 researchers from 12 countries (Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Finland, Israel, Russia, Ukraine, India, Japan, South Africa and the UK), their list is given below.

The majority of the papers were devoted to descriptions of new species: viz., spiders from Spain, Portugal, Italy, UK, Russia, Ukraine, India, Nepal and Kenya; beetles from Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Zambia, China and Taiwan; and stick insects from Vietnam (Figure 1a). Over two thirds of the papers focused on spiders (Araneae), with the remaining third dealing with five other arthropod groups (Figure 1b).

Figure 1a. Topics and taxonomic groups covered in the publications

Figure 1b. Distribution of papers according to principal taxonomic groups

The value of sharing data from specimens

The MM’s Entomology Department was one of many natural history museums and societies supporting conservation initiatives. By gathering and using historical data from specimens and records of the Chequered skipper butterfly Carterocephalus palaemon (Pallas, 1771), Wildman et al. obtained a better understanding of how this species declined to extinction in England in 1976 and used this information to recommend conservation activities for other declining or endangered species. Records of this species, including those from the Manchester Museum, are now part of the Butterflies for the New Millennium (BNM) database created by Butterfly Conservation and the Biological Records Centre (BRC) (Wildman et al. 2022).

The updated checklist of four families of the order Diptera (Atelestidae, Brachystomidae, Empididae and Hybotidae) for Lancashire and Cheshire is not just a species list. Compiled by Phil Brighton using museum specimens and other sources, including local and national recording schemes, the paper includes relevant information on distribution, ecology, habitats requirements, and national and local conservation status. Data from the records and specimens assembled by former Museum’s Keepers, Harry Britten (from 1920 and 1950) and Alan Brindle (1950s), made a major contribution to this checklist (Brighton 2021).

News from the Entomology Department

Colin Johnson, the last person to hold the title Keeper of Entomology at the Manchester Museum (1982 – 2003) sadly passed away last year. Colin was an internationally renowned expert on beetles who described an amazing number of species new to science (especially tiny beetles of the family Ptiliidae, Cryptophagidae and Latriididae; for more information see in the blogpost “A life devoted to describing tiny beetles”). Colin contributed greatly to the expansion of the British Coleoptera at MM (92% of known British beetles are represented in the collection). An account on Colin’s work and legacy was compiled and published by his friend, Roger Dennis, in the obituary published by the Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine (Dennis 2022; Figure 2).

J. C. Otero & J. M. Pereira described Atomaria (Atomaria) johnsoni, a new species of the family Cryptophagidae from China, dedicated to Colin Johnson (Otero & Pereira 2022), making a total of 19 species named after him.

Figure 2. Colin Johnson visiting the Entomology Collection at Manchester Museum, 2004; credit: Dmitri Logunov.

Accounts of the Museum’s collections

• A paper on the collections of mites and ticks (Acari) in the Manchester Museum, written by two of our honorary curators (Graham Proudlove and Laurence Cook) and the Curator of Arthropods (Dmitri Logunov), gives a brief account of the history of the collections and collectors (including the work of former Museum keepers and assistants). It is also includes an analysis of historical specimens and material acquired in the last decade, for the first time. This collection of 2900 slides preparations was recently recurated, documented and stored in the original standard Hill units and drawers (Proudlove et al. 2022; Figure 3a&b). This paper immediately started generating numerous enquires regarding this collection, which was never published before.

Figure 3a.

Figure 3b.

Figure 3a. Slide preparacions of the Acari collection. Figure 3b. Hill units storing slides preparation of mites. Published in Proudlove et al. 2022

• A publication regarding a small butterfly collection from Sierra Leone, given by Lieutenant Leech in 1895, explores not only the social life of the century and the colonial past, but also shares information on the natural heritage of west Africa. This collection had not previously been documented, apart from the handwritten labels. It contains 93 identified species of butterflies, moths and insects of various orders as well as other material. The specimens were collected between 1891 and 1893 in the vicinity of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, however there are uncertainties about collection localities for a group of specimens. Many butterflies were kept in triangular paper envelops (Figure 4a). The specimens have been mounted, labelled, identified and accessioned (Cook et al. 2022; Figure 4a&b).

Figure 4a.

Figure 4b.

Figure 4a. Paper envelops and butterfly from Leech Lepidoptera collection; credit: Manchester Museum. Figure 4b. Specimens of the family Nymphalidae, from the Leech Lepidoptera collection; credit: Manchester Museum.

• In June 2022, a Special Issue (Vol 19) of Arachnology, edited by Dmitri Logunov, published 24 papers and proceedings from a symposium celebrating the life and legacy of John and Frances Murphy and Mike Roberts. Members of the British Arachnological Society (BAS), speakers from 39 countries and many spider enthusiasts, attended the online event. All symposium talks are available via the BAS YouTube channel. This volume contains eight papers based on the symposium presentations and 16 other contributions (freely available here).

Within the Special Issue, the scientific legacy of Murphy’s publications and archival material was analysed and summarised by Logunov (Logunov 2022a). This paper also includes a brief account of Frances and John’s life, fieldwork (Figure 5) and a brief description of the spider collection assembled over 45 years (Logunov 2022a; Arzuza Buelvas 2018). The Murphy Spider Collection and their archival materials are available at the Manchester Museum.

Figure 5. John and Frances Murphy collecting spiders in Singapore. Image published in Logunov 2022a

The issue also contained seven more taxonomy papers based on specimens of the Murphy spider collection (Azarkina 2022; Ballarin & Pantini 2022; Sherwood et al. 2022; Logunov 2022d; Pett 2022; Tanasevitch 2022; Zonstein & Marusik 2022). New species and a new genus from Kenya, and new species from Italy were described (Azarkina 2022; Ballarin & Pantini 2022; Pett 2022; Zonstein & Marusik 2022). The issue also contained an annotated catalogue of tarantulas (family Theraphosidae) retained at the Manchester Museum (Sherwood et al. 2022; Figure 6).

Figure 6. Figure 6. Tarantula Brachypelma sp. from Mexico. 2. Original educational display made by Robert Standen (former Assistant Keeper of Zoology, Manchester Museum, 1890–1925). 3-4. Views of the male palp). Published in Sherwood et al. 2022

Highlights of other papers and authors

• Laurence Cook and Chris Shortall analysed the frequencies of melanic forms of three moths over the last century, including the melanic morph, carbonaria, of the Peppered Moth Biston betularia, using data of the Rothamsted Insect Survey. This industrial melanic morph was not present in the analysed data. However, the intermedia morph (Biston betularia insularia) and the industrial melanic forms of the Scalloped Hazel (Odontoptera bidentata) and the Pale Brindled Beauty (Apocheima pilosaria) were found widely over Britain. Possible reasons to this finding are discussed in the paper (Cook & Shortall, 2022).

• Specimens of stick insects, genus Trachythorax, were used in a review of this taxonomic group. This project examined specimens from related taxa including type materials, records of images and data collected during citizen science initiatives and described stick insects new to science from Vietnam (Bresseell, J. & Constant, J. 2021; Figure 7).

Figure 7. Cover of the paper about stick insects from Vietnam, Bresseel & Constant 2021

A complete list of the publications:

1. Azarkina, G. N. 2022. A new species of Aelurillus Simon, 1885 (Araneae: Salticidae) from Kenya. – Arachnology, 19(Special Issue): 220–223. https://www.britishspiders.org.uk/system/files/library/190013.pdf
2. Azarkina, G. N., Pérez-Gómez A. & Sánchez-García I. 2022. Description of a stunning new species of Phlegra Simon, 1876 from southern Spain and redescription of an enigmatic Phlegra species from northern Africa (Araneae: Salticidae). – Zootaxa, 5162 (5): 557–575. doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5162.5.6 
3. Ballarin, F. & Pantini, P. 2022. A synthesis of the genus Palliduphantes Saaristo & Tanasevitch, 2001 in Italy, with a description of two new species (Araneae, Linyphiidae, Micronetinae). – Arachnology, 19(Special Issue): 302–315. https://www.britishspiders.org.uk/system/files/library/190020.pdf
4. Bresseell, J. & Constant, J. 2021. Review of the Oriental stick insect genus Trachythorax Redtenbacher, 1908 with two new species from Vietnam and comments on egg parasitism and morphological counteradaptations (Phasmida, Lonchodidae, Necrosciinae). – Belgian Journal of Entomology, 120: 1–56.
5. Brighton, P. 2021. Report: The Diptera of Lancashire and Cheshire: Picture-wing Flies (Opomyzidae, Pallopteridae, Platystomatidae, Tephritidae, Ulidiidae). Version 1.0 December 2021. Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society, National Museum Liverpool, Manchester Museum, Tanyptera Trust, iRecord, NBN Atlas and the Dipterists Forum. Available here.
6. Caleb, J. T. D., Sanap, R. V., Tripathi, R., Sampathkumar, M., Dharamaraj, J. & Packiam, S. M. 2022. Taxonomic notes on some South and Southeast Asian members of the genus Rhene Thorell, 1869 (Aranei, Salticidae, Dendryphantini). – Zootaxa, 5125 (4): 389–407. doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5125.4.3
7. Cook, L., Dockery, M. & Logunov, D. V. 2022. The Lepidoptera collection from Sierra Leone of Lieutenant Ellis Leech in the Manchester Museum. – Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine, 158: 115–127.
8. Cook, L. & Shortall, C. R. 2022. After carbonaria: melanic moth frequencies in the Rothamsted Insect Survey. – Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 20: 1–8.
9. Crespo, L. C., Silva, I., Enguídanos, A., Cardoso, P., Arnedo, M. 2022. Island hoppers: Integrative taxonomic revision of Hogna wolf spiders (Araneae, Lycosidae) endemic to the Madeira islands with description of a new species. ZooKeys, 1086: 84–135. http://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1086.68015
10. Déjean, S. & Danflous, S. 2021. Deux Scotinotylus (Araneae, Linyphiidae) nouveaux pour la faune de France. – Revue Arachnologique (2) 8: 18–25.
11. Dennis R.L.H. 2022. Obituary Colin Johnson M.Sc., F.R.E.S. – 30 April 1943–25 August 2021. Keeper of Entomology at the Manchester Museum 1982–2003. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 158: 72–76. doi: 10.31184/M00138908.1581.4121
12. Esyunin, S. L., Agafonova, O. V. & Ruchin, A. B. 2021. [Spider fauna (Aranei) of the Mordovian Reserve]. – Proceedings of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve 27: 53–133. (in Russian) 
13. Gnelitsa, V. A. 2022. Entelecara Simon, 1884 species in Ukraine (Araneae: Linyphiidae). – Arachnology, 19(1): 46–62.
14. Logunov, D. V. 2021a. Jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) of the Na Hang Nature Reserve, Tuyen Quang Province, Vietnam. – Arachnology, 18(9): 1021–1055. doi:10.13156/arac.2021.18.9.1021
15. Logunov, D. V. 2021b. New species and records of the jumping spiders from India and Nepal (Aranei: Salticidae). – Arthropoda Selecta, 30(3): 351–361. doi:10.15298/arthsel.30.3.08 
16. Logunov D. V. 2022a. John Alan Murphy (1922–2021) and his contribution to arachnology. – Arachnology, 19(Special Issue): 77–103.
17. Logunov D. V. 2022b. Literature review: Suomen Hyppyhämähäkit. Katso silmiin ja ihastu! The Jumping Spiders of Finland. Look into their eyes and fall in love! (by Sami Karjalainen). – Newsletter of the British Arachnological Society, 154: 10–11.
18. Logunov D. V. 2022c. Literature review: All You Need to Know About Spiders (by Wolfgang Nentwig, Jutta Ansorg, Angelo Bolzern, Holger Frick, Anne-Sarah Ganske, Ambros Hänggi, Christian Kropf and Anna Stäubli). – Newsletter of the British Arachnological Society, 154: 13–15.
19. Logunov D. V. & Sherwood D. 2022. A resounding success: The John Murphy and Mike Roberts Memorial Symposium – Great Names in British and World Arachnology, 3 December 2021. Arachnology Letters, 63: i–iv.
20. Logunov, D. V., Tripathi, R. & Jangid, A.K. 2022. First record of Pseudomogrus Simon, 1937 (Araneae: Salticidae) from India, with description of a new species. – Arachnology, 19(1): 72–76.
21. Sherwood D., Logunov D. V. & Gabriel R. 2022. An annotated catalogue of the theraphosid spiders held in the collections of the Manchester Museum (Araneae: Theraphosidae). – Arachnology, 19(Special Issue): 209–219.
22. Logunov D. V. 2022d. On four species of Irura Peckham & Peckham, 1901 (Araneae: Salticidae) collected by John and Frances Murphy from south-east Asia. – Arachnolog,y 19(Special Issue): 229–237. 
23. Matsumoto, K. 2021. New species, new records and notes of Afrotropical Chaetophora Kirby & Spence, 1817 (Coleoptera: Byrrhidae: Syncalptinae). – Zootaxa, 5067(2): 211–223. doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5067.2.3 
24. Otero, J. C., Pereira Martínez, J. M. 2022. New species of Atomaria Stephens, 1829 (Coleoptera, Cryptophagidae) from China and Taiwan – Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology, 25: 101872; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aspen.2022.101872 
25. Pett, B. L. 2022. Two new species of dark sac spiders of the genus Patelloceto Lyle & Haddad, 2010 (Trachelidae) from Kenya. – Arachnology, 19(Special Issue): 224–228. 
26. Proudlove, G., Cook, L. & Logunov, D. V. 2022. Mites (Acari) in the Manchester Museum: Curators and a committee. – Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine, 158: 9–27. doi: 10.31184/M00138908.1581.4120 
27. Sherwood, D. & Logunov D. V. 2022. The John Murphy and Mike Roberts Memorial Symposium – Great Names in British and World Arachnology, 3rd December 2021. Newsletter of the British Arachnological Society, 153: 4–6.
28. Stenhouse, D. A. 2021. Report: The status and distribution of the leaf beetle Bromius obscurus (Linnaeus, 1758) in Cheshire in 2019 and 2020. National Museum Liverpool and Tanyptera Trust.
29. Tanasevitch, A. V. 2022. Revision of the Murphy collection of Linyphiidae (Araneae) from south-east Asia. – Arachnology, 19(Special Issue): 199–208. 
30. Wildman, J. P., Ollerton, J., Bourn, N. A. D., Brereton, T. M., Moore, J. L. & McCollin, D. 2022. The value of museum and other uncollated data in reconstructing the decline of the chequered skipper butterfly Carterocephalus palaemon (Pallas, 1771). – Journal of Natural Science Collections, 10: 31–44. https://www.natsca.org/article/2724
31. Zamani, A., Nadolny, A. A., Esyunin, S. L. & Marusik, Yu. M. 2021. New data on the spider fauna of Iran (Arachnida: Araneae), part VIII. – Zoosystematica Rossica, 30(2): 279–297. doi:10.31610/zsr/2021.30.2.279
32. Zonstein, S. L. & Marusik Yu. M. 2022. Descriptions of Sceliraptor gen. n. and two new species from Kenya (Araneae, Palpimanidae). – Arachnology, 19(Special Issue): 257–264.

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Publications from the Manchester Museum’s Entomology Department – 2020-21

A selection of the papers published in the last academic year 2020-21, based on or containing references to specimens from the Manchester Museum’s Entomology Department

This blog is the third one of the annual series devoted to the publications based on or referred to the Manchester Museum’s entomology collections in the last academic year. During the period from 1st August 2020 to 31th July 2021, a total of 23 papers were published by 21 researchers from 13 countries (including the UK, Russia, Ukraine, Finland, Greece, Bulgaria, Germany, Iran, China, Italy, Costa Rica, Honduras and the US). Despite (inter)national lockdowns, travel cutbacks and limited access to the collection store due to the Covid-related restrictions, the Entomology department was able to continue to support research.

The majority of the authors are associated with universities or museums, for example: Museo di Storia Naturale dell’Università di Firenze (Italy); Museo de Zoología, Universidad de Costa Rica; Zoological Museum, University of Turku (Finland); University of Nebraska State Museum (US); Department of Invertebrate Zoology of the Tomsk State University (Russia); the Altai State University (Russia) and the Manchester Museum and School of Biological Sciences – Faculty of Biology, University of Manchester (UK). Other authors are affiliated with academic research institutes (e.g., Institute for Biological Problems of the North, the Russian Academy of Sciences) and one author is from the Hong Kong Entomological Society (China).

Taxa and topics

The main topic covered in these publications included the taxonomy: viz., taxonomic reviews of various taxa (some 40%), descriptions of new species (30%), and new faunistic records (18%). Less frequent topics were ecology, morphology, surveys, book reviews and memorabilia (Figure 1).

The majority of the papers (60%) were focused on spiders (the order Araneae). Taxonomic reviews, including descriptions of new species and new synonymy, were the main topics of 14 publications. More than 80 new species were described, particularly from Central and South Asia (Figure 2). New information on species records and distribution from India, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iran, and Sri Lanka was given.

Two papers for each of the following orders were published: Coleoptera (beetles), Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) and Phasmatodea (stick insects). The Coleoptera papers focused on descriptions of new species and new faunistic records of the feather-winged beetles, and the ecology of one Neotropical species of the tortoise beetles. A single paper of butterflies was devoted to morphology in two subspecies of the European Swallowtail butterfly; there is also a review of an ‘Illustrated History of Butterflies of the Afrotropical Indian Ocean Islands’. Two papers devoted to stick insects included a description of new species from Vietnam and new records from China. A complete list of publications is given below.

Figure 1. Topics covered by the 2020-21 publications using specimens from the Entomology Department, Manchester Museum

Geographical scope

Publications based on Manchester Museum’s specimens contributed to the knowledge of entomofaunas in 32 countries from such regions as the Middle East, Central, South and South-East Asia, Europe (including the UK) and the Neotropics (Costa Rica). The highest number of publications is devoted to Central Asia (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Number of the publications per country of origin of the studied specimens included in the 2020-21 papers related to the Manchester Museum Entomology Collection

Highlight of papers and authors

• Dmitri Logunov (Curator of the Arthropods Collection, Manchester Museum) made a major contribution as the author of 11, or nearly a half the papers published in this academic year. Most of his papers (70%) were dedicated to the taxonomy of spiders (order Araneae). Dr. Logunov diagnosed, described and illustrated 37 new species of spiders from India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, as well as from other countries in the Mediterranean and the Middle East (Figure 3). Other publications included the jubilee article on Dr A.A. Zyuzin (an arachnologist and his colleague), marking his 70^th anniversary, work and achievement (Logunov, 2021c).

Figure 3. Jumping spider male of Chalcovietnamcus naga, the new species from the Philippines described by D. Logunov (from Figures 1-10, Logunov, 2020b)

• Researchers from the School of Biological Sciences (University of Manchester) measured British and European specimens of the Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio machaon) to determine if sexual selection was responsible for the “tail length” (elongated part of the hindwings) in this species. It seems that the length of the tail is more related to avoiding predators and does not exhibit sexual dimorphism (Koutrouditsou & Nudds, 2021; Figure 4).

Figure 4. Measurements to assess relative size of ‘tails’ in Swallowtail Butterfly (from Figure 1, Koutrouditsou & Nudds, 2021)

• Two new species of the rove-beetles of the genus Metolinus (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae), based on unpublished materials from the Horace Last Collection were finally described (Figure 5). These descriptions were published along with new records of this scarce genus in Papua New Guinea (Bordoni, 2021).

Figure 5. Two new species of the genus Metolinus (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) recently published from specimens at Manchester Museum (from Figure 7 & 8, Bordoni, 2021)

• The holotype of Calyptocephala attenuata (Spaeth, 1919) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Spilophorini) from Costa Rica (Figure 6) accompanied with a description of a new host plant and further information of the natural history of this poorly known tortoise beetle from Costa Rica (Nishida & Chaboo, 2020).

Figure 6. The Holotype of Calyptocephala attenuata from Costa Rica, held in the Manchester Museum (from Figure 4, Nishida & Chaboo, 2020)

• Specimens of sticks insects (order Phasmatodea) from Manchester Museum were used in a taxonomic review of this group in Vietnam and China. In the two papers, eight new species and two new genera were described, as well as new synonyms and records from China (Ho, 2020; Ho, 2021).

A complete list of publications:

1. Bordoni A. (2021). New data on the Australasian Xantholinini (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Xantholininae) 13. Two new species of Metolinus from New Guinea of the Manchester Museum and new records. 305° contribution to the knowledge of the Staphylinidae. – Boll. Mus. reg. Sci. nat. Torino, 38(1-2): 23-29
2. Fomichev A.A. & Marusik, Y. M. (2020). Five new species of the Acantholycosa-complex (Araneae: Lycosidae) from Mongolia. – Zootaxa, 4497 (2): 271–284. doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4497.2.7 
3. Ho, W.C. (2020) New taxa of Clitumninae from Vietnam (Phasmatodea: Phasmatidae). – Zoological Systematics, 45(2): 104-117. http://doi: 10.11865/zs.202015
4. Ho, W.C. (2021) Contribution to the knowledge of Chinese Phasmatodea IX: First report of Xeroderinae (Phasmatodea: Phasmatidae) from China. – Zoological Systematics, 46(2): 187-190. http://doi: 10.11865/zs.2021205
5. Koutrouditsou L.K. & Nudds R.L. (2021). No evidence of sexual dimorphism in the tails of the swallowtail butterflies Papilio machaon gorganus and P. m. britannicus. – Ecology and Evolution, 11: 4744-4749. doi: 10.10 02/ece3.7374 
6. Logunov, D.V. (2020a). Further notes on the genus Stenaelurillus Simon, 1885 from India (Arachnida: Araneae: Salticidae). – Zootaxa, 4899(1): 201-214. http://doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4899.1.11 
7. Logunov, D.V. (2020b). New and poorly known leaf-litter dwelling jumping spiders from South-East Asia (Araneae, Salticidae: Euophryini and Tisanibini). – Arachnology, 18(6): 521-562. 
8. Logunov, D.V. (2020c). On three species of Hogna Simon, 1885 (Aranei: Lycosidae) from the Near East and Central Asia. – Arthropoda Selecta, 29(3): 349-360. 
9. Logunov, D.V. (2021a). Literature review: An Illustrated History of Butterflies of the Afrotropical Indian Ocean Islands (by James M. Lawrence & Mark C. Williams). – Antenna, online at: https://www.royensoc.co.uk/sites/default/files/Review_An%20Illustrated%20History%20of%20Butterflies%20of%20the%20Afrotropical%20Indian%20Ocean%20Islands.pdf 
10. Logunov, D.V. (2021b). Literature review: True Bugs of the World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) Classification and Natural History (2nd edition) (by Randall T. Schuh & Christiane Weirauch). – Antenna, online at: https://www.royensoc.co.uk/sites/default/files/Review_True%20Bugs%20of%20the%20World%20Classification%20and%20Natural%20History%202nd%20ed.pdf 
11. Logunov, D.V. (2021c). [Alexei Alexandrovich Zyuzin – 70 years]. – Arthropoda Selecta, 30(1): 133-141. (in Russian) 
12. Logunov, D.V. (2021d). Further notes on the jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) of Afghanistan. – Arachnology, 18(8): 821-828. 
13. Logunov, D.V. (2021e). Notes on the genus Chinattus Logunov, 1999 from India, Pakistan and Nepal (Arachnida: Araneae: Salticidae). – Zootaxa, 5006 (1): 110-120. http://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5006.1.15 
14. Logunov, D.V. (2021f). On three species of Plexippoides Prószyński, 1984 (Araneae: Salticidae) from the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Central Asia, with notes on a taxonomic validity of the genus. – Arachnology, 18(7): 766-777. http://doi:10.13156/arac.2020.18.7.766 
15. Logunov, D.V. & Fomichev A.A. (2021). A new species of Karakumosa Logunov & Ponomarev, 2020 (Araneae: Lycosidae: Lycosinae) from Tajikistan. – Arachnology, 18(7): 677-680. http://doi:10.13156/arac.2020.18.7.677 
16. Logunov, D.V. & Ponomarev, A.V. (2020). Karakumosa gen. nov., a new Central Asian genus of fossorial wolf spiders (Araneae: Lycosidae: Lycosinae). – Revue Suisse de Zoologie, 127(2): 275-313. http://doi:10.35929/RSZ.0021
17. Marusik, Y. M. & Nadolny, A. A. (2020). On the identity of Trochosa hispanica (Araneae, Lycosidae), with notes on the synonymy of West Palaearctic “Trochosa” species. – Zootaxa, 4859(1): 56-80. http://doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4859.1.2
18. Nishida K. & Chaboo C. (2020). A new host plant family for Cassidinae sensu lato: Calyptocephala attenuata (Spaeth, 1919) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Spilophorini) on Smilax (Smilacaceae) in Costa Rica. – The Pan-Pacific Entomologist, 96(4):263–267. 
19. Tchemeris A.N. (2020). Remarkable new species of epedanid from Vietnam (Arachnida: Opiliones: Laniatores: Epedanidae). – Zootaxa, 4858 (3): 427–437. http://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4858.3.8 
20. Zamani, A., Chatzaki, M., Esyunin, S. L. & Marusik, Y. M. (2021). One new genus and nineteen new species of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iran, with other taxonomic considerations. – European Journal of Taxonomy, 751: 68-114. http://doi:10.5852/ejt.2021.751.1381 
21. Zamani, A., Dimitrov, D., Weiss, I., Alimohammadi, S., Rafiei-Jahed, R., Esyunin, S. L., Moradmand, M., Chatzaki, M. & Marusik, Y. M. (2020). New data on the spider fauna of Iran (Arachnida: Araneae), part VII. – Arachnology, 18(6): 569-591. http://doi:10.13156/arac.2020.18.6.569 
22. Zamani, A. & Marusik, Y. M. (2020). A survey of Phrurolithidae (Arachnida: Araneae) in southern Caucasus, Iran and Central Asia. – Zootaxa, 4758(2): 311-329. http://doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4758.2.6 
23. Zamani, A. & Marusik, Y. M. (2021). Revision of the spider family Zodariidae (Arachnida, Araneae) in Iran and Turkmenistan, with seventeen new species. – ZooKeys, 1035: 145-193. http://doi:10.3897/zookeys.1035.65767

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Publications from Manchester Museum’s Entomology Department – 2019-20

Selection of papers published in the last academic year (1 August 2019 – 31 July 2020)

This post is the next of a series of blog posts summarizing research that is partly or completely based on the Manchester Museum’s entomology collections. During the last academic year (1 August 2019 – 31 July 2020), a total of 24 such papers were published. Nearly 70% of them were completed and published during the first seven months of 2020. Despite lockdown restrictions in many countries due to Covid-19, many researchers were able to continue their studies.

The Entomology Department supported more than 40 researchers and naturalists from 10 countries (Russia, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Israel, Slovakia, Finland, India, Pakistan and United Kingdom). This support goes beyond just loaning specimens, but includes searching for and providing requested information or photographing specimens. The curator, Dmitri Logunov also provided comments/suggestions on improving manuscripts at different stages, identified specimens, especially those of spiders, and encouraged collection volunteers and associates to undertake own research and publish their results. In all papers, the importance of Manchester Museum collections as the repository of voucher/type specimens for the study of taxonomy, comparative morphology and many other topics is highlighted.

The majority of papers (Figure 1) were devoted to spiders, the order Araneae – 17 papers in total. Other taxa studied include beetles (Coleoptera; two papers); butterflies (Lepidoptera; two papers); as well as praying mantises (Mantodea), flies (Diptera) and wasps (Hymenoptera), with one paper on each group. The topics covered by these publications include the taxonomy and systematics (18 papers), including descriptions of new species and genera, a revision of some insect genera and new faunistic records. Two papers focused on faunistic surveys and two others are identification guides. A complete list of publications is given below.

Figure 1.  The taxa covered by the papers published between 1 August 2019 and 31 July 2020, based on specimens or collections from the Manchester Museum’s Entomology Department

Description of two Museum’s collections

Two important collections of the Manchester Museum were described and published at the beginning of 2020. One paper gives an account of a 200 year history of the British butterfly collection, discussing collectors, different collecting periods and patterns. The Museum’s British butterfly collection consists of over 12,000 specimens, representing 69 species. Most of the butterflies were collected during the 1920s, 1930s and 1970s (Dockery & Cook, 2020). Both authors are honorary staff at the Museum. They reinforced the importance of museum insect collections to encourage public interest in natural history and conservation today.

The oldest specimen from Dockery & Cook (2020), a Small skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris) from the Isle of Wight, 1840. Scale bar = 1cm. The British butterfly collection at The Manchester Museum (reproduced from Figure 10; Dockery & Cook, 2020)

Previously unsorted spiders from southern Europe collected by Eric Duffey (a famous British arachnologist and conservationist) were identified by Prof. Rainer Breitling (The University of Manchester). Around 500 species in 42 families accounting for more than 2500 specimens are included in this paper, which also provides illustrations of selected specimens. The spiders were collected from 12 European countries with data labels providing habitat information for 120 locations (Breitling, 2020). See more about E. Duffey collection and life here and here.

Drawings from Prof. Rainer Breitling (Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Manchester).
South European spiders from the Duffey collection in the Manchester Museum (reproduced from Figure 8; Breitling, 2020)

Highlights of the papers

• In a revision of the genus Cissidium Motschulsky (Coleoptera: Ptiliidae – feather-winged beetles), 223 specimens from the Manchester Museum were studied, as well as specimens from the British Natural History Museum. The specimens originated from 26 countries in five continents (Darby, 2020). This research actually completes the unfinished study by Colin Johnson, the former Keeper of Entomology at the Museum. Based on morphology, the author (Dr Michael Darby) described 77 new species, and about half of the corresponding types are retained in the Manchester Museum.

• An updated checklist of four families of the order Diptera (Atelestidae, Brachystomidae, Empididae and Hybotidae) that occur in Lancashire and Cheshire was compiled by Phil Brighton. It is more than a list of species, also including information a national and local conservation status of all species, their distribution, ecology and preferred habitats. As well as museum specimens, the paper relied on several recording schemes, such as the National Empidoidea scheme, Greater Manchester Local Records Centre and RECORD (Brighton, 2020). The document provides a list of 243 species, representing 62% of the total of the British species for these families – a good proportion of these species is deposited in the Manchester Museum.

• Two papers used morphological, molecular (DNA barcoding) and ecological characters to support species designation and delimitation in two different taxa, ant-mimic Micaria spiders (Araneae, Gnaphosidae; Muster & Michalik, 2019) and Swedish paraitoid wasps of the genus Ophion (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ophioninae; Johansson & Cederberg, 2019). The former emphasized the value of natural history information, especially documented by early naturalists and taxonomists, which is not revealed using modern techniques (Muster & Michalik, 2019).

• Descriptions of new spider species (order Araneae) and taxonomic reviews, especially at genus level, represented by nearly 70% of the publications (Figure 1). Seven papers were focused on the family Salticidae (jumping spiders), including two by D.V. Logunov, Curator of Arthropods at the Manchester Museum, and A.V. Ponomarev,  of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Logunov & Ponomarev, 2020a, 2020b). These papers present new faunistic records from Turkmenistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and new species from the northern Caucasus (Russia) and Turkmenistan.

• A description of the fifth new species of praying mantis (Dracomantis mirofraternus, Mantodea: Mantidae) from the central highlands of Vietnam in the last three years, evidences the rich biodiversity of this little-known area (Shcherbakov & Vermeersch, 2020). Manchester Museum holds two paratypes of this species.

• Many Coleoptera specimens from the Manchester Museum were used to compare species between different biogeographical regions in a review of the Cryptophagidae (Coleoptera; feather-winged beetles) of Canada and Alaska. Specimens of 50 species from the Palearctic Region were used for a comparison with Nearctic species (Pelletier & Hébert, 2019).

Authors’ affiliations

Authors were associated with natural history collections, zoology and entomology departments at museums and universities, including Natural History Museum (London, UK); Natural History Museum (Netherlands); Zoologisches Institut und Museum, Universität Greifswald (Germany); Zoological Museum, University of Turku (Finland); Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel-Aviv University (Israel) and Manchester Museum (UK). Others were affiliated to research and scientific centres, including the Centre for DNA Taxonomy, Zoological Survey of India; Southern Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences; and the Energy, Environment & Water Research Center, The Cyprus Institute; local and national NGOs, for example the Association for the Protection of Natural Heritage and Biodiversity of Cyprus and the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society.

A complete list of publications:

1. Andrews, P. 2020. Notes and views of the Large Copper and the Lost Fenlands [Online]. Available from: http://www.dispar.org/reference.php?id=163
2. Azarkina G.N. 2019. Manzuma gen. nov., a new aelurilline genus of jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae). European Journal of Taxonomy 611: 1–47. http://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2020.611
3. Azarkina, G. N. & Zamani, A. 2020. The first description of the female of Heliophanus xerxesi Logunov, 2009 (Araneae: Salticidae) from Iran. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 127(1): 21-25. http://doi:10.35929/RSZ.0003
4. Bosmans R. et al., 2019. Spiders of Cyprus (Araneae). A catalogue of all currently known species from Cyprus. Newsletter Belgian Arachnological Society, 34: 1-173.
5. Breitling, R. 2020. South European spiders from the Duffey collection in the Manchester Museum (Arachnida: Araneae). Arachnology 18(4): 333-362. http://doi:10.13156/arac.2020.18.4.333
6. Brighton B. 2020. The Diptera of Lancashire and Cheshire: Empidoidea, Part I. L&CES, 47 pp.
7. Caleb J.T.D., Prajapati D.A. & Ali P.A. 2019. Redescription of Rudakius ludhianaensis (Tikader, 1974) (Aranei: Salticidae), with notes on its synonymy and distribution. Arthropoda Selecta, 28(3): 417-423.
8. Darby M. 2020. A revision of Cissidium Motschulsky (Coleoptera: Ptiliidae) with seventy seven new species. European Journal of Taxonomy 622: 1–188. http://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2020.622
9. Dockery M. & Cook L. 2020. The British butterfly collection at the Manchester Museum. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 156: 135–149.
10. Esyunin S.L. & Zamani A. 2019. Taxonomic remarks on two Drassodes species (Araneae, Gnaphosidae) from Iran. Acta Arachnology, 68(2): 63-71.
11. Johansson N. & Cederberg B. 2019. Review of the Swedish species of Ophion (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ophioninae), with the description of 18 new species and an illustrated key to Swedish species. European Journal of Taxonomy, 550: 1-136. http://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2019.550
12. Logunov, D.V. & Ponomarev A.V. 2020a. A new species of Dendryphantes C. L. Koch, 1837 (Araneae: Salticidae) from the Caucasus, with notes on the state of knowledge of the dendryphantines in the Old World. Arachnology, 18(4): 329–332.
13. Logunov, D.V. & Ponomarev A.V. 2020b. New species and records of Salticidae (Aranei) from Turkmenistan and neighbouring countries. Arthropoda Selecta, 29(1): 67–81.
14. Marusik, Yu. M. 2019. A new species of Euophrys (Aranei: Salticidae) from Israel. Arthropoda Selecta 28(4): 562–566.
15. Marusik, Yu. M., Nadolny A. A. & Koponen S. 2020. Redescription of Trochosa urbana (Araneae: Lycosidae) with notes on its distribution. Arachnology 18(5): 482–489.
16. Marusik, Y. M., Otto, S. & Japoshvili, G. 2020. Taxonomic notes on Amaurobius (Araneae: Amaurobiidae), including the description of a new species. Zootaxa 4718(1): 47-56. http://doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4718.1.3
17. Muster C. & Michalik P. 2019. Cryptic diversity in ant-mimic Micaria spiders (Araneae, Gnaphosidae) and a tribute to early naturalists. Zoologica Scripta, 00: 1-13. http://doi: 10.1111/zsc.12404
18. Pelletier, G. & Hébert C. 2019. The Cryptophagidae of Canada and the northern United States of America. Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification 40: 305 pp. http://doi:10.3752/cjai.2019.40
19. Schäfer M. 2020. Ein Beitrag zur Springspinnenfauna (Araneae: Salticidae) der griechischen Insel Kreta mit der Erstbeschreibung von Pellenes florii sp. nov. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 59: 72-87.
20. Shcherbakov E. O. & Vermeersch X. H. C. 2020. Dracomantis mirofraternus gen. et sp. n., a new genus and species of Hierodulinae (Mantodea: Mantidae) from Vietnam. Far Eastern Entomologist 408: 1-12. http://doi.org/10.25221/fee.408.1
21. Zamani, A., Hosseini, M. S. & Moradmand, M. 2020. New data on jumping spiders of Iran, with a new species of Salticus (Araneae: Salticidae). Arachnologische Mitteilungen 59: 63-66. http://doi:10.30963/aramit5908
22. Zamani, A. & Marusik, Y. M. 2020. A review of Agelenini (Araneae: Agelenidae: Ageleninae) of Iran and Tajikistan, with descriptions of four new genera. Arachnology 18(4): 368-386. http://doi:10.13156/arac.2020.18.4.368
23. Zamani, A., Marusik, Yu.M. & Šestáková, A. 2020. On Araniella and Neoscona (Araneae, Araneidae) of the Caucasus, Middle East and Central Asia. ZooKeys 906: 13–40. http://doi:10.3897/zookeys.906.47978
24. Zonstein, S. L. & Marusik, Y. M. 2020. A review of the spider genus Boagrius Simon, 1893 (Araneae: Palpimanidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 68: 91-102. http://doi:10.26107/RBZ-2020-0010

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Spiders: to fear or not to fear?

Spiders – you love them or you hate them. The latter is probably because you are afraid of them. It is hardly surprising, as the (inter)national media are full of spider-related nonsense with the only truth being that the news are about spiders which indeed exist: e.g., THE SCOTSMAN, Oct 1 2005: “Scotland is being invaded by new breeds of spider which are marching north as a result of climate change…” – DAILY MAIL, July 1 2005: “Gardener is left fighting for breath after a nip from the black widow’s distant cousin”. – THE WASHINGTON TIMES, Feb 27 2004: “A German man who kept more than 200 spiders in his home, along with other odd pets, was apparently killed and eaten by his critters”. No doubts, after reading this, anyone will get scared. Actually, the first two storylines are about False Black Widow Spiders (Steatoda species) representing part of the native British fauna and not dangerous. Reports on their bites are rarely/not backed up with formal spider identification.

Historically, spiders have become a traditional part of Halloween scare and even its symbol due to their suspected connection with witches. In medieval times, spiders, black cats and rats were believed to be evil companions of witches. Spiders are regularly depicted in horror films, occurring in and crawling out witch dwellings, vampire lairs or dungeons, and such places are always shown as being totally lined up with a thick layer of silk. Hence, no wonder people are afraid of spiders. But are spiders really that dangerous?

Pumpkin spider candle holder. © Jade Adrian

Spiders represent a very diverse group of organisms, with over 48,860 species being described worldwide to date. In Britain alone there are approximately 670 spider species, of which two thirds belong to the group known as ‘money spiders’ – tiny creatures with the body length less than 2 mm long. In the UK, there are NO spiders dangerous to man, rest assured about this. Nevertheless, how many of us could admire spiders or simply tolerate their presence: say, daddy-long-legs in own cellar or a house-spider in a bathroom?

Most/all common fears of spiders are because these awesome creatures are badly misunderstood. If one imagines a spider, two main features thereof immediately come to mind: venom and silk. Let us consider both features and some misconceptions connected to them.

1. All spiders are poisonous.

This is what people say and this is one of the main reasons why spiders are feared. Well, all spiders are carnivorous. They possess sharp fangs and kill their prey with a venomous bite. Thus, all spiders, except for one family Uloboridae, are venomous. But the common concern and fear are really about whether spiders are dangerous to humans?

Our ancestors seemed to be confident about this, depicting spiders as demonic, insect ghouls, with venom mouths. Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503–42) in his epigram ‘How by a Kiss he found both his Life and Death’ made known spiders as anti-bees gathering poison from a flower:

“Nature, that gave the bee so feat a grace

To find honey of so wondrous fashion,

Hath taught the spider out of the same place

To fetch poison, by strange alteration.”

In the 17th century, spiders and their bites were sometimes regarded as dangerous as nitric acid or rat poison. Even nowadays, there are lots of urban legends about “deadly” spiders, for instance, “The Daddy-longlegs Spider has the world’s most powerful venom”; “People can lose arms and legs because of spider bites”; “Deadly poisonous spiders lurk beneath toilet seats in airports”; “The spider found in the bath crawled out the plughole”; etc. Alas, none of these statements is true.

Male of House Spider (Eratigena duellica) did not crawl out the plughole, as some might think, it entered the house via the door searching for a possible mate. Just let it go. © H. Bellmann

In a simplified way, there are two different kinds of venom produced by spiders: neurotoxic and necrotic. Neurotoxic venoms work directly on the nervous system. The best known example is the venom of Black Widow spiders (Latrodectus species). Necrotic venoms cause damage to the tissues, such as ulcers and lesions. The best example is the venom of Recluse Spiders (Loxosceles species). More about spider bites here and here. However, we need to remember that although a dozen or so spiders (out of about 50,000 species known worldwide) are known to produce venom that is toxic to humans, none of these species occurs in the UK. Thus, in this country, there is no reason to fear spiders and their bites at all.

Cross section of spider carapace to show the position of poison glands. Modified from Foelix (2011).

2. All spiders make webs.

In our imaginary world spiders are capable of weaving silk in such large quantities that even a human body could be wrapped up, as it happened to poor Frodo Baggins in Shelob’s lair from ‘The Lord of the Rings’. Nothing could be more untrue than such nonsense (not to mention that the giant spider Shelob was depicted as a non-existing type of animal (even with a sting).

The English word ‘spider’ comes from the old English ‘spinnan’ via the Middle English ‘spither’ meaning ‘spinner’, and as such spiders frequently appear in English literature. For instance, Shakespeare used a spider in his ‘The Merchant of Venice’, Act III, Scene II:  “Here in her hairs / the painter plays the spider, and hath woven / a golden mesh t’entrap the hearts of men”. Yes, all spiders can produce and weave silk. However, although all spider webs are made of silk – the material of outstanding mechanical properties (or here) – not all spiders build webs for prey capture. Many actively hunt for their prey, as reflected in their names: jumping spiders, lynx spiders, wolf spiders, etc. Yet all spiders use silk for producing egg sacs, retreats, moulting or mating chambers, draglines, and some of them for making catching devices. Many spiders use silk threads for ballooning and this way can disperse for long distances, sometimes for hundreds of miles (watch the video below). This is why in the Medieval English bestiaries, spiders were described as aerial worms that take their nourishment from the air.

I you are walking in the countryside and accidentally have a silk thread across your face, there is nothing to worry about – it is likely to be gossamer, and hence the time for St Martin’s summer, Martinmas in a church and a goose to be cooked and eaten… By all means silk production by spiders has no effect on our life, apart from the need to clean dark corners of our houses, and in this respect there is no need to worry or fear spiders at all.

Male of common European jumping spider Aelurillus v-insignitus is looking at you. Is not it cute? Are you really still scared? © Barbara Thaler-Knoflach

Further reading:

Foelix R.F. 2011. Biology of spiders (third edition). Oxford Univ. Press., 420 pp.

Hillyard P. 1994. The book of the spider. New York: Avon Books, 218 pp.

Marren P. & Mabey R. 2010. Bugs Brittanica. London: Chatto & Windus, 500 pp.

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Curiosities from Corfu and peculiarities from the Pyrenees – recurating R. Jones’ Spider Collection

Since 2019, I have been working with two arachnological donations to the Manchester Museum’s Entomology Department: the spider collections by John Murphy comprising of more than 45,000 samples (donated in 2015), and by Richard Jones comprising of about 10,000 tubes (donated in 2017). Both collections are being recurated with the support from volunteers.  

Richard Jones (1943 – 2017) was an artist and professional photographer, and the author of many photographic identification guides, including “Country life guide to spiders of Britain and Northern Europe” published in 1983 (see obituary). John (b. 192?) and Frances (1926-1995) Murphy were the well-known British arachnologists; an account of their spider collection was recently published by myself (see paper). Richard Jones and John Murphy were close friends, active arachnologists and great contributors to the British Arachnological Society. Both were involved in many field collecting trips across the UK and overseas, published books and recorded spiders for the national Spider Recording Scheme.

During the recuration of Jones’ spider collection, I have encountered some interesting stories and specimens, particularly from Corfu, Greece, collected in March and April 1983 and from the Pyrénées-Orientales, France, collected in June 1982. The recuration process (viz., rehousing specimens from plastic to better-suited glass tubes) also faces some challenges. Among these are the updating of the taxonomy (i.e., providing them with correct and currently accepted names); counting all the specimens in each tube (sometimes over 100! in a tube); separating spiders from insects (e.g. flies, ants and wasps) and other invertebrates; and rehydrating dry specimens.

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Pseudoscorpions, harvestman and flies among the spiders. Counting many small spiders!

Curiosities from Corfu

1. The paratype of Dysdera murphyorum, family Dysderidae (Woodlouse Spiders), described by Deeleman-Reinhold in 1988, collected in Corfu in April 1983. This specimen is not only important for its scientific value (it is the specimen that was used to describe a new species) but also because the species was named after John Murphy and his wife Frances for their contributions to the arachnology. They spent more than 30 years assembling and working with an amazing spider collection.

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2. Two unexpected scorpions from Kassiopi (a picturesque, touristy village in Corfu). Scorpions are in the same class as spiders (Arachnida) but belong to their own order Scorpiones. These specimens are from the genus Euscorpius, family Euscorpiidae.

3. Size differences between female and male spiders. Here, the much larger female of Eresus sp., family Eresidae (Velvet Spiders) next to the smaller male. Females are velvet black or dark grey whilst mature males have red bodies with four spots.

4. Specimens of Palpimanus gibbulus Dufour, 1820 from the family Palpimanidae (Palp-footed Spiders). Their dark red colour is still preserved in the abdomen and its front legs are larger and darker than the others. This species occurs the Mediterranean and Central Asia.

5. Scytodes thoracica (Latreille, 1802), Scytodidae (Spitting Spiders). This spider spits a silk-venomous substance over its prey. The yellowish colour in the body and the stripes in their legs are still visible.

Peculiarities from the Pyrenees

Part of the history of the British Arachnological Society is entangled with this collection. I have found specimens collected during the first BAS meeting outside Britain at Mas Forge Field Centre in France, 5th – 12th June, 1982. Seven members of the BAS (including John and Frances Murphy and Richard Jones) and four Belgium arachnologists enjoyed the trip to the Pyrénées-Orientales in southern France. A brief account of the trip, including descriptions of the species found and places visited, was published in the BAS Newsletter No. 35 (Parker, 1982).

1. The group explored the paths around the field centre, this specimen of the pale Cheiracanthium mildei L. Koch, 1864, Cheiracanthiidae (Sac Spiders) was possibly collected on the first day of the trip around the field centre.

2. Evarcha jucunda (Lucas, 1846), Salticidae (Jumping Spiders). This specimen was collected in Vingrau, a small village in Languedoc – Roussillon region. This species only occurs naturally in the Mediterranean region.

3. Zodarion rubidum Simon, 1914, Zodariidae (Ant Spiders). This small specimen was collected at Col de Jou (1125 m). This species is originally from western France but can now be seen in central Europe. It mimics red ants.

4. Aculepeira ceropegia (Walckenaer, 1802), Araneidae (Typical Orb Weaver Spiders). This species is more frequent at higher altitudes, it was found on Mont-Louis (1200 m).

5. Misumena vatia (Clerck, 1757), Thomisidae (Typical Crab Spiders). This spider, as the name suggests, looks like a small crab. It was collected at the edge of the Pyrenees in a wood with cork oaks on the last day of the trip. Adults change colour, camouflaging themselves against their background, in order to capture insects, especially on flowers.

Having been on holiday to the same place in the summer of 2019, I totally agree when Frances Murphy who wrote in her account of the trip that her only complaint was that ‘a week is too short’. The collection has many specimens of great value, waiting for their hidden stories to be shared, including this fly that bit Richard Jones!

References:

Arzuza Buelvas, D. 2018. The Murphy spider collection at the Manchester Museum: a valuable research resource for arachnologists. JoNSC 6: 48-5. O’Neill, G. 1995. Frances Mary Murphy (1926-1995). Newsl. Br. arachnol. Soc. 74: 3-4. Parker, J.R. 1982. Arachnological History: The B.A.S. Meeting at Mas Forge Field Centre in France, 5th-12th June 1982. Newsl. Br. arachnol. Soc. 35: 1-2 Smith, H. 2018. Obituary: Richard David Curtis (Dick) Jones 1943-2017. Newsl. Br. arachnol. Soc.141: 12

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Publications from Manchester Museum’s Entomology Department – 2018-19

One of the most important ways of expressing the scientific value of natural history collections is the production of collection-based papers. This blog explores our commitment to making the arthropod collection of the Manchester Museum available for research and overviews the papers published between August 2018 and July 2019. In all cases, the Manchester Museum is used as a permanent depository of the studied type and voucher specimens.

In total, 28 scientific papers based on specimens or data from the Museum’s Entomology Collection were published by researchers from nine countries (France, Belgium, Russian, Brazil, Poland, China, Iran, South Africa and the UK). The researchers were from research institutes, museums and universities, including, Institute of Systematic and Ecology of Animals (Russia), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia (Brazil), Entomological Society (China), Insect Centre (Russia), Muséum des Sciences Naturelles et de Préhistoire de Chartres (France), University of Wroclaw (Poland), University of Tehran (Iran), The University of Manchester (UK) and the associated staff of Manchester Museum.

The University of Manchester staff and volunteers (Professor Laurence Cook, Michael Dockery, Claire Miles, Diana Arzuza, and Dr Dmitri Logunov) published seven articles, describing collectors and important and unusual collections, for example:

• The entomological legacy of Robert Wylie Lloyd (1868–1958), who made a major donation to the Entomology Department; the extent of his donation (British and European beetles and butterflies) and his motivation as a naturalist are discussed (Cook L. 2019).
• An overview of the John and Francis Murphy Spider Collection, the largest one ever acquired by the Museum and its description as a valuable resource for arachnologists (Arzuza Buelvas D. 2019).
• A complete summary of the Sphingidae (hawkmoths) collection held in the Manchester Museum’s Lepidoptera collection, incuding a full species list (British and worldwide) and information about collectors and collections (Miles C. 2019).
• The Lepidoptera collection of William Raymond Wooff (1929–2006), the content of this unusual collection (butterfly/moth wings mounted on index cards), with reliable data about distribution and habitat, is explored in this paper (Dockery M. & Logunov D.V. 2018).
• Examples of industrial melanism and its rapid adaptive response to a changing environment in Britain in 19th century using specimens of the Peppered Moth (Cook L. 2018).
• An obituary of Dr Eric Duffey, British arachnologist, ecologist and conservationist; details of his professional life and contribution to the Manchester Museum’s Entomology collection are given (Logunov D.V. 2019).

Example of an index card with mounted wings from the Lepidoptera collection of William Raymond Wooff.

Drawer with Blue butterflies, Polyommatus bellargus (Rottemburg) and P. coridon (Poda), in R.W. Lloyd’s Lepidoptera collection.

Topics covered by the publications include taxonomy, systematics and phylogeny (18 papers), including descriptions of new species and genera, and new faunistic records. Three papers were focused on surveys and one is an identification guide. Taxa in such publications included species of Araneae (spiders), Coleoptera (beetles), Lepidoptera (butterflies), Phasmatodea (stick insects), Mantodea (mantis) and Trichoptera (caddis flies), see Figure 1.

Figure 1. The taxa covered by papers published between August 2018 and July 2019 using the Entomology Collection of the Manchester Museum. ‘Other’ includes non taxonomic, museological publications, such as those describing collectors and/or collections and their history.

The order Araneae (spiders) is the group with the most papers published (13 in total), this is mainly due to the taxonomic expertise and scientific connections of the current Curator of Arthropods, Manchester Museum. Dr Dmitri Logunov has described two new spider species, including a jumping spider from Hong Kong that mimics lichen moth caterpillars and is named after the famous US childrens’ author, Eric Carle, who published the book ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ (Logunov D.V. & Obenauer S. 2019). This new species was discovered during a City Nature Challenge event in a park on the outskirts of Hong Kong. See here for more information.

General appearance of live male of Uroballus carlei n. sp. (holotype ♂) photograph from the original paper.

Coleoptera represented the second taxa with most papers published (7 in total). The papers included descriptions of new species from the Himalayas, new records and identification keys from the Brazilian Amazon Region, a monograph of the Afrotropical Cassidinae with description of seven new species, and taxonomy reviews and new species from southern Asia.

The order Trichoptera (caddis flies) featured in phylogenetic research and in a revision of a ‘chimeric’ European genus. The order Phasmatodea (stick insects) featured in a description of three new stick insect species from Vietnam, and Mantodea (praying mantises) in the description of a new genus and two new species of praying mantis from the Vietnam.

All the publications were peer-reviewed. The most popular journals for these publications were Arthopoda Selecta (specialised in morphology, taxonomy, life histories, zoogeography, phylogeny and evolution of arthropods); Zootaxa (journal for animal taxonomists) and the British entomological journal ‘Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine’ published four times a year.

Recurated British Lepidoptera Collection. Bee and Hummingbird Hawkmoths (Hemaris and Macroglossum species).

A complete list of publications:

1. Arzuza Buelvas D. 2019. The Murphy spider collection at the Manchester Museum: a valuable research resource for arachnologists. Journal of Natural Science Collections, 6: 48-59.
2. Azarkina G.N. & L.A. Trilikauskas. 2019. Halocosa gen.n., a new genus of Lycosidae (Araneae) from the Palaearctic, with a redescription of H. cereipes (L. Koch, 1878). Zootaxa, 4629(4): 555-570. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4629.4.4
3. Azarkina G.N. & Zamani A. 2019. The Aelurillina Simon, 1901 (Aranei: Salticidae) of Iran: a check-list and three new species of Aelurillus Simon, 1884 and Proszynskiana Logunov, 1996. Arthropoda Selecta, 28(1): 83-97.
4. Bevilaqua M. & da Fonseca C.R.V. 2018. Passalidae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) from the west-most Brazilian Amazon Region: checklist, new records, and identification key. Neotrop. Entomolol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-018-0656-x
5. Borowiec L. & Świętojańska J. 2018. A monograph of the Afrotropical Cassidinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Part 5. Revision of the genus Aethiopocassis Spaeth. Zootaxa, 4488(1): 001-099. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4488.1.1
6. Cook L. 2018. Records of industrial melanism in British moths. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2018, XX: 1-5.
7. Cook L. 2019. Beetles, butterflies and bibliophilia: the entomological legacy of Robert Wylie Lloyd. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine, 155: 3-14.
8. Dockery M. & Logunov D.V. 2018. The Lepidoptera Collection of William Raymond Wooff (1929–2006) in the Manchester Museum. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine, 154: 271-295.
9. Ho W.C.G., 2018. Three new species of genus Pylamenes Stal (Phasmatodea: Heteropteridae: Dataminae) from Vietnam. Zoological Systematics, 43(3): 276-282.
10. Kazantsev S.V. 2018. New and little known species of Lycostomus Motschulsky, 1861 (Coleoptera: Lycidae) from southern Asia. Russian Entomological Journal, 27(4): 371-380.
11. Keith D. 2019. Sur Phaeochrous pseudintermedius Kuijten, 1978 (Coleoptera Scarabaeoidea Hybosoridae). L’Entomologiste, 75(2): 101-102.
12. Lecigne S., Cornic J.-F., Oger P. & van Keer J. 2019. Celerrimus n. gen. (Araneae, Philodromidae) et description de Celerrimus duffeyi n. sp., une espèce très singuliere d’Europe occidentale. Revue arachnologique, serie 2, no 6: 32-51.
13. Logunov D.V. 2019. Obituary: Eric Arthur Gerald Duffey 1922-2019. Arachnology, 18(1): 47-52.
14. Logunov D.V. 2019. Taxonomic notes on the Harmochirina Simon, 1903 from South and South-East Asia (Aranei: Salticidae). Arthropoda Selecta, 28(1): 99-112.
15. Logunov D.V. & Obenauer S. 2019. A new species of Uroballus Simon, 1902 (Araneae: Salticidae) from Hong Kong, a jumping spider that appears to mimic lichen moth caterpillars. Israel Journal of Entomology, 49(1): 1-9. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2632730
16. Logunov D.V. & Schäfer M. 2019. A new species of Pseudomogrus Simon, 1937 (Araneae: Salticidae) from the Canary Islands. Arachnology, 18(2): 121-126.
17. Miles, C. 2019. Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) in the collections of Manchester Museum. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 155: 77-106.
18. Nekhaeva A.A., Marusik, Yu.M., Buckle D. 2019. A survey of the Siberio-Nearctic genus Masikia Millidge, 1984 (Aranei: Linyphiidae: Erigoninae). Arthropoda Selecta, 28(1): 157-168.
19. Olah J., Andersen T., Beshkov S., Ciubuc C., Coppa G., Ibrahimi H., Kovacs T., Olah J. (JR.) & Szczesny B. 2018. Unified phylogenetic species concept: taking subspecies and race out of science: postmodern theory applied to the Potamophylax cingulatus group (Trichoptera, Limnephilidae). Opusc. Zool. Budapest, 49(1): 33-70.
20. Oláh J., Andersen T., Beshkov S., Coppa G., Ruiz Garcia A. & Johanson K.A. 2019. Revision of European Wormaldia species (Trichoptera, Philopotamidae): Chimeric taxa of integrative organization. Opusc. Zool. Budapest, 50(1): 31-85.
21. Rücker W.H. 2018. Latridiidae und Merophysiidae der Wets-Paläarktis. Neuwied, W.H. Rücker Selbstverlag, 676 pp.
22. Tshernyshev S. & Kopetz A. 2018. Myrmecospectra Motchulsky, 1858 – the correct name for Myrmecophasma Bourgeois, 1885 (Insecta: Coleoptera: Cleroidea: Malachiidae), with a review of species and a description of a new species from the Himalayas. In: Hartman M., Barclay M.V.L. & Weipert J. (eds), Biodiversität und Naturausstattung im Himalaya VI., Verein der Freunde und Förderer des Naturkundemuseum Erfurt, Erfurt, pp. 443-453.
23. Vermeersch X.H.C., Stiewe M.B.D. & Shcherbakov E.O. 2019. A new genus of praying mantis, Chlorocalis n. gen., with two new species from the Greater Mekong region (Mantodea: Mantidae), Annales de la Société entomologique de France (N.S.). https://doi.org/10.1080/00379271.2018.1562380
24. Zamani A. & Marusik Yu.M. 2018. A new species of the hersiliid spiders (Aranei: Hersiliidae) from Iran. Euroasian Entomological Journal, 17(4): 273-275.
25. Zamani A. & Marusik Yu.M. 2018. New species and records of Filistatidae (Arachnida: Aranei) from Iran. Arthropoda Selecta, 27(2): 121-128.
26. Zamani A., Marusik Yu.M. & Malek-Hosseini M.J. 2018. A new species of Tegenaria Latreille, 1804 (Araneae: Agelenidae) from western Iran. Zootaxa, 4444(1): 95–97.
27. Zamani A., Seiedy M., Saboori A. & Marusik Yu.M. 2018. The spider genus Pterotricha in Iran, with the description of a new genus (Araneae, Gnaphosidae). ZooKeys, 777: 17-41.
28. Zonstein S. 2018. A revision of the spider genus Anemesia (Araneae, Cyrtaucheniidae). European Journal of Taxonomy 485: 1–100. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2018.485

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Imported with bananas – what are you, a Banana Spider?

In late January 2017, Ms Eleanor Smith of Wilmslow (Cheshire, UK) visited the Manchester Museum and brought a medium-sized spider (see Fig. 1) that was found alive in a bunch of bananas, in a supermarket (Lidl) near Wilmslow. As she was told, the bananas on which the spider was found were delivered from Colombia. Unfortunately, the spider was already dead because Eleanor had kept the jar with the spider in a fridge; far too cold for such a tropical creature. The specimen was found to belong to what is commonly known as ‘Banana Spiders’. It was a mature female that was identified as Sadala sp. in the family Sparassidae, huntsman spiders. The specimen is now deposited in the Manchester Museum’s spider collection (accession number G7585.1).

Fig.1Female of Sadala sp. (Sparassidae) imported to the UK from Colombia; the Manchester Museum (G7585.1).

Spiders that are incidentally imported with bananas are commonly called ‘Banana Spiders’. However, this common English name is rather misleading, as it is used for quite a number of different spider groups.

In North America, this name can be applied to Golden Orb-web Spiders (Nephila species, family Nephilidae – most commonly Nephila clavipes); see also here and here. The reasons why this species is called ‘Banana Spider’ remain unclear, for there is no obvious connection between the spider and bananas – could it be because of the banana-shaped abdomen of rather large females? By the way, some Nephila species are edible and even considered a delicacy by indigenous people in New Caledonia and Australia, for instance, Nephila edulis (and here).

The wandering spiders (family Ctenidae) are regularly called ‘Banana Spiders’ as well (see Vetter et al., 2014). Some of them have even acquired a very bad media-reputation as deadly venomous species: for instance, the Brazilian Wandering Spider (Phoneutria fera). Alas, most of online media reports – for instance, ‘MailOne’ (24 June 2015) or ‘Independent’ (21 September 2016) – cannot be taken seriously, as they fail to even provide a correct identification of the spiders found on bananas.

In reality, to date, there has been only one published record of the Brazilian Wandering Spider as being imported to Europe (Germany) in 1950s, but yet the identification of that specimen causes doubts. The majority of existing records of “Brazilian Wandering Spiders”, both from Europe and from North America, are likely to belong either to the harmless Central American spider genus, Cupiennius (Ctenidae), or (much rarer!) to other Phoneutria species – most commonly, to Phoneutria boliviensis, a medically important wandering spider from Central America.

By far the most common spider group being imported with bananas is the pantropical huntsman spiders (family Sparassidae), also called ‘Banana Spiders’. In total, 13 species of huntsman spiders have been identified of those imported with bananas and other international goods to Europe. At least five species of huntsman spiders have been reported as being imported with bananas to the UK (Browning, 1954; Wilson, 2011): Barylestis occidentalis, Barylestis scutatus, Barylestis variatus (all from Africa), Heteropoda venatoria (from SE Asia, but now pantropical) and Olios sanctivincenti (from Asia). The commonest of them is Heteropoda venatoria, which is even established indoor in some regions of southern Europe (see Fig. 2). Yet, a real number of imported huntsman spiders might be much higher; Sadala sp. which was mentioned above (Fig. 1) is a new record from this group.

Fig.2. Female (top) and male (bottom) of Heteropoda venatoria (Sparassidae);the Manchester Museum.

The spider collection of the Manchester Museum contains a number of samples of huntsman spiders collected from bananas in Manchester and its vicinities; for instance, from the Manchester Market Street in June 1912 or April 1931 (Fig. 3).

Several spider species that were obtained from the Manchester Open Air Market from imported bananas; the Manchester Museum.

Overall, a number of alien spider species that are imported with bananas and other international cargo to Europe or North America is rather high. For instance, Nentwig (2015) listed 184 species that have been imported to Europe over the last 200 years; of them 47 species have established there in and around human buildings. Vetter et al. (2014) identified 135 spider species imported to the USA in seven years (between 2006 and 2010). Although in the past banana or other fruit shipments were the main pathway of introduction to Europe, today potted plants and apparently container shipments in general are more important. It is suspected that due to the increasing international trade volume and climate change, in the next decades at least one new spider species will be introduced to Europe and established there annually.

Further reading

Nentwig W. (2015) Introduction, establishment rate, pathways and impact of spiders alien to Europe – Biol Invasions, 17: 2757–2778. DOI 10.1007/s10530-015-0912-5

Nentwig W. and Kobelt M. (2010) Spiders (Araneae). Chapter 7.3 – BioRisk, 4(1): 131–147. doi: 10.3897/biorisk.4.48

Vetter R.S., Crawford R.L., and Buckle D.J. (2014) spiders (Araneae) found in bananas and other international cargo submitted to North American arachnologists for identification – Journal of Medical Entomology, 51(6): 1136–1143. URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1603/ME14037

Wilson R. (2011) Some tropical spiders recorded in Leeds, West Yorkshire and a review of non-native taxa recorded in the UK – The Newsletters of the British Arachnological Society, No.120: 1–5.

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Dwarf male and giant female of Nephila clavipes, the Golden Orb-Weaving spider from Costa Rica

The Golden Orb-Weaving spider – Nephila clavipes (Linnaeus, 1767) of the family Nephilidae – is known from USA to Argentina. In Costa Rica, it occurs in lowland and premontane tropical rain forests. Females make large aerial webs in which they usually occupy the centre. Orb-web spiders are effective predators and can easily subdue prey that is significantly larger and heavier than the spider (see on photo).

Two females of Nephila clavipes with prey; Costa Rica.

One of the most peculiar characteristic of this species, as well as of other Nephila species, is an extreme sexual size dimorphism, where dwarf males can be many times smaller and lighter than the females (see on photo). Numerous hypotheses have been proposed to explain the factors that may give rise to such size dimorphism in spiders. Some of them are briefly discussed here.

In the case of Nephila, it is argued that that large size in females could be driven by selection on female fecundity (= the potential reproductive capacity), acting to increase the number of offspring produced. With the high level of juvenile mortality, the production of larger numbers of offspring is crucial for survival of the species. Thus such size dimorphism is almost always due to female gigantism rather than male dwarfism.

As was demonstrated for some African species [e.g., Nephila pilipes (Fabricius 1793)], females continue to grow after reaching maturity. The females mature at varying body sizes and instars and then continue to grow by molting the entire exoskeleton except their copulatory organs (=genitalia). Apparently, this is why in Costa Rica Nephila clavipes is represented by mature females of markedly variable body sizes (although, to date, a post-maturity molting has not been described for this species).

In a short video presented below (courtesy of Alex Villegas, Costa Rica) it is shown how a dwarf male of Nephila clavipes is approaching a giant female in its attempts to mate, alas unsuccessfully this tiem. Indeed, the male is to be careful in order not to be mixed up by the female with a potential prey.

Further reading:

Kuntner, M. & Coddington J.A. 2009. Discovery of the largest orbweaving spider species: the evolution of gigantism in Nephila. – Plos; DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007516

Kuntner M., S. Zhang, M. Gregorič, and D. Li. 2012. Nephila female gigantism attained through post-maturity molting. – Journal of Arachnology 40(3):345-347. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1636/B12-03.1

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Field trip to Iceland, 2014 – Plastic cup as a deadly trap

On the second day of our field trip to Iceland, we visited the interesting site lying in the southern municipality of Reykjavik, called Garðabær, which literally means ‘Garden Town’. We walked around the beautiful Lake Urridavatn surrounded by boggy meadows full of sedge, dwarf bushes (like blue berry) and cotton grass (see on the photo).

Boggy meadow with cotton grass (left) and the blue berry bush (right) near Lake Urridavatn in Iceland

On the meadow side of the path to the lake we found a plastic cup thrown by someone a few days ago. Incidentally, the cup, which was partly filled with rain water, became a deadly trap to insects and spiders. Having inspected the content of the cup I found two specimens of crab spiders (Xysticus sp.; male and female), one specimen of the ground beetle (family Carabidae) and one harvestman (family Phalangiidae). So, the cup ‘worked’ exactly in the way as true pitfall traps (see also here) that are used by scientists for ecological surveys. A poor thinking or maybe carelessness of someone who threw this plastic cup away instead of dropping it into a waste bin resulted in some casualties of minibeasts. Throwing a plastic cup (or any unwanted plastic item) away is hardly seen as a great deal or an action causing any threat to wild life. However, my short and simple story seems to say otherwise. In simple words, it reminds us that recycling waste is essential to both natural environment and humans, minimizing an unnecessary risk of damage to the environment and helping out our planet be a better place to live in. More about recycling can be seen here and here.

The plastic cup that became a deadly trap to a number of minibeasts near Lake Urridavatn in Iceland. See also a short video below.

 

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