Over 50 new species of spiders discovered in a single expedition in Australia
We all know that Australia is filled with spiders in all forms and colors, and there are several highly venomous spiders on the island. No one really knows exactly how many spider species there are in Australia in total, but recently a team of scientists from a biodiversity firm called Bush Blitz discovered over 50 new spider species, which goes to show how little we actually know about the insects in our proximity.
Salticidae Jotus sp. nov. cf auripes, one of the new spiders discovered by the Bush Blitz. Image copyright by R. Whyte.
The expedition took place in Queensland's Cape York Peninsula, which turned out to be a really good place to look for spiders. During the two-week expedition, the team found some really cool spiders, including scuba-diving tarantulas, spiders that were the size of dinner plates, and spiders that mimicked their prey to prevent being detected.
The spiders are not formally described yet, so it is still not 100 % certain that all 50+ spiders are actually new species. However, Bush Blitz has already discovered over 1,200 new species in Australia, so they are pretty good at what they do, so there are probably not that many errors in their identification process at this point. It is really amazing that a group like this have been able to find over 1,000 new species, and it really makes me wonder how much of the Australian outback that is full of unknown plants, insects and other life forms.
Zodariidae Habronestes, the ant-eating spider that mimics its prey. Image copyright by R. Whyte.
I find it really amazing that a single expedition of a group of scientists can discover such vast number of new species is only two weeks, which really goes to show how much we don’t know about animals that are living on our plant. Hopefully I will improve on my own identification knowledge, and maybe someday I will also be able to find a new species!
About the author
Hi, I’m @valth! I live in Norway with my girlfriend, our newborn son, and our two dogs, one of which is seen wearing a bow tie in the profile picture!
I am very passionate about nature and biology, and have been studying ecology for a few years now. My passions are mostly within conservation biology, mycology (the studies of mushrooms), animal behavior and general microbiology. I really enjoy both the theoretical aspect, as well as the more practical aspect of biology, and I spend about as much time in front of biology textbooks as I do spend on finding and identifying plant, mushroom and animal species in the forests.
Make sure to hit the big follow button above to go to my profile and follow me! This will make sure all of my posts end up right in your feed, and you can get your daily dose of biology news without any hassle :)