Hello new followers! My name is Joe and I am an Australian arachnologist. My work mostly focuses on describing new species of Peacock Spiders and their relatives, and the phylogenetics of Huntsman Spiders. Stick around to learn more about the work I do with my 8-legged friends!
@2fangs8legs@BushBlitz2 Sure have! I've seen a couple of burrowing Neosparassus in SA. I think Mark Newton has some good pics, I'll try to dig them up for you
Our new paper out today!
@MVLizards @arachno_joe @medinailiana & Bec Rose @melbournemuseum@IanPotterFdn
Assessing the impact of fire on spiders through a global comparative analysis | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences https://t.co/NK4eg3wYcm
Maratus aurantius is an orange coloured peacock spider known only from Orange, New South Wales and its species name (aurantius) means 'orange' in Latin πππππ
# NEW SPECIES ALERT #
With support of @qldmuseum and #ProjectDIG, we rediscovered a species of giant trapdoor spider from the Brigalow Belt region of south-eastern Queensland. Meet π¬ππππππ π πππππππ! We give more info here: https://t.co/7TTGpHj4GS
Spider pedipalps are amazing! In mature male spiders, the pedipalps contain the reproductive organs. They're also used for food manipulation, taste and smell, courtship, and as shown in these photos - as window wipers to clean their eyes!
(Maratus personatus, Western Australia)
In happier news, new paper with @Eviota out today in the Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. Meet Nemateleotris lavandula, the Lavender-blushed Dartfish. The new species is elevated from the synonymy of N. helfrichi, with which it was previously confused.
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Bush Blitz is a species discovery partnership between the Australian Government through Parks Australia, BHP, and Earthwatch and provides and important step towards documenting and conserving Australia's unique biodiversity.
One of several undescribed spider species we collected on the recent Alpine Bush Blitz expedition (Badge Huntsman - Neosparassus). Many of Australia's spiders are undescribed - they are unnamed, unknown, undocumented and invisible to government, industry, and the community.
Discovering and documenting undescribed species is crucial for their conservation and may prevent 'invisible' species from becoming extinct before they are even documented. If a species is not known, it cannot be adequately protected.