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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/spiders/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Spiders</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/spiders/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Study reveals surge in illegal arachnid trade via Facebook in Philippines</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/study-reveals-surge-in-illegal-arachnid-trade-via-facebook-in-philippines/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/study-reveals-surge-in-illegal-arachnid-trade-via-facebook-in-philippines/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jun 2025 10:07:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/28020420/25159713506_53d7db84b3_c-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301598</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Illegal Wildlife Trade]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia and Philippines]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Arachnids, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environmental Law, Regulations, Spiders, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2019, customs officers at a post office in the Philippine capital Manila unwrapped what looked like an ordinary parcel from Poland. Inside, they found 757 live tarantulas stuffed inside plastic containers, neatly packed like a twisted birthday surprise. Far from an isolated incident, this seizure reflects a long-running issue. Between 2010 and 2019, arachnids [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2019, customs officers at a post office in the Philippine capital Manila unwrapped what looked like an ordinary parcel from Poland. Inside, they found 757 live tarantulas stuffed inside plastic containers, neatly packed like a twisted birthday surprise. Far from an isolated incident, this seizure reflects a long-running issue. Between 2010 and 2019, arachnids were the most frequently confiscated invertebrates in the Philippines, with nearly 3,000 tarantulas and 1,000 scorpions from more than 40 species seized. Many were rare, newly discovered, or hard-to-breed nonnative species, and were likely caught from the wild and smuggled by post. A study by wildlife trade monitor TRAFFIC, published in the Journal of Nature Studies, highlights this troubling trend. Researchers manually reviewed posts from five of the Philippines’ most active Facebook groups for live arachnid sales, analyzing nearly 7,000 posts from October to December 2020 and February to April 2022. They documented price, quantity, species, and seller location. In total, they recorded at least 14,662 tarantulas from 135 species and 1,387 scorpions from 25 species across nearly 7,000 posts. Although the majority of arachnids recorded in TRAFFIC’s study were nonnative — 96% of tarantulas and 64% of scorpions by volume — many fall under international trade regulations. Of the 42 arachnid species listed under global wildlife trade treaty CITES, the study recorded 28 tarantula species and one scorpion species being traded online. CITES listing means all of these require proper permits for legal import and export. “Some of these could have been captive-bred,” study&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/study-reveals-surge-in-illegal-arachnid-trade-via-facebook-in-philippines/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301598</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>That ‘killer’ spider story you read online? Fake news, most probably</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/that-killer-spider-story-you-read-online-fake-news-most-probably/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/that-killer-spider-story-you-read-online-fake-news-most-probably/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 May 2022 13:15:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Cassie Freund]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/05/20132733/Argiope-bruennichi-wasp-spider-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=256142</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Arachnids, Biodiversity, data, Human-wildlife Conflict, Insects, Media, Research, Social Media, and Spiders]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The prevalence of political and scientific misinformation in the media is a hot-button topic these days, and rightfully so — it has serious negative consequences for society. Emerging research shows that not even the animal kingdom is safe from the dangers of misinformation: a new study has quantified the global spread of misinformation about spiders, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The prevalence of political and scientific misinformation in the media is a hot-button topic these days, and rightfully so — it has serious negative consequences for society. Emerging research shows that not even the animal kingdom is safe from the dangers of misinformation: a new study has quantified the global spread of misinformation about spiders, yielding clues about how to stem the flow of falsehoods. The research, posted as a pre-print and currently under peer review, is the product of a massive effort by more than 60 scientists around the world led by ecologist Stefano Mammola of the Italian National Research Council. They compiled a database of 5,348 news articles about human-spider encounters from 81 countries and written in 41 languages. Mammola and his colleagues analyzed each article in the database, recording whether they contained factual errors about spiders and whether they used sensationalistic language and/or images, such as the words “killer,” “terror” and “nightmare,” to describe the encounters. They found the articles were rife with misinformation: nearly half (47%) of the total news articles contained factual errors, and 43% were sensationalistic. According to Mammola, spiders are a perfect focal organism for examining scientific misinformation in the media because they arouse a lot of emotion — much of it fear — in humans. Media outlets capitalize on these strong emotions to get readers to click on their articles. Sensationalized headlines about spiders. Researchers found that nearly half (47%) of the total news articles contained factual errors, and 43% were sensationalistic.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/that-killer-spider-story-you-read-online-fake-news-most-probably/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-256142</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In untangling a taxonomic web, Sri Lankan researchers describe seven new jumping spiders</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/in-untangling-a-taxonomic-web-sri-lankan-researchers-describe-seven-new-jumping-spiders/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/in-untangling-a-taxonomic-web-sri-lankan-researchers-describe-seven-new-jumping-spiders/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jan 2022 12:29:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/01/13120725/Dorsal-view-of-the-new-spiders-large-3-768x470.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=251510</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Research, Species Discovery, and Spiders]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — With two large eyes on a flat rectangular face, and six more eyes around the head, jumping spiders from the Salticidae family can look a bit alien, even by arachnid standards. But all those extra eyes give it unparalleled vision — a prerequisite for the ability to jump long distances when in danger [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — With two large eyes on a flat rectangular face, and six more eyes around the head, jumping spiders from the Salticidae family can look a bit alien, even by arachnid standards. But all those extra eyes give it unparalleled vision — a prerequisite for the ability to jump long distances when in danger or hunting. Salticidae is also the largest family of spiders of the world, accounting for 13% of all known spider species. And now it’s grown a little bigger, thanks to a new study that describes seven new members of the jumping spider family from the biodiversity gem of Sri Lanka. The new species were described as a result of an effort to clear up the evolutionary family tree in the genus Flacillula, from which the type species, Flacillula lubrica, had been described more than a century ago from Sri Lanka. Since then, five other spiders have been place in the genus. But study co-authors Dilini Bopearachchi and Suresh Benjamin, both from Sri Lanka’s National Institute of Fundamental Studies, sought to review the composition of the genus, which, they wrote, had been rendered a “holdall” for several unrelated species due to its “ambiguous circumscription.” Some of the jumping spiders are colorful and attractive. Image courtesy of Chaturi Jayatissa. Tiny masters of camouflage So they traveled to different areas to cover all the climatic regions of Sri Lanka over a long period of time, collecting 24 individuals of Flacillula spiders in the process. What they found was&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/in-untangling-a-taxonomic-web-sri-lankan-researchers-describe-seven-new-jumping-spiders/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-251510</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Here goes nothing: Male spiders found giving females silk-wrapped zilch</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/here-goes-nothing-male-spiders-found-giving-females-silk-wrapped-zilch/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/here-goes-nothing-male-spiders-found-giving-females-silk-wrapped-zilch/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Feb 2021 14:09:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anna Nordseth]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Maria Angeles Salazar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/02/18092507/spiders-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=239744</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Fellows, Invertebrates, Research, Spiders, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[How do you let your crush know you’re interested in taking things to the next level? If you’re a male spider, you may give the female in question a gift as a token of your affection. It may be nutritious food or inedible leftovers — sometimes wrapped in silk, sometimes not. Because of the role [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[How do you let your crush know you’re interested in taking things to the next level? If you’re a male spider, you may give the female in question a gift as a token of your affection. It may be nutritious food or inedible leftovers — sometimes wrapped in silk, sometimes not. Because of the role these offerings play in mating, scientists have come to call them “nuptial gifts.” Nuptial gift rituals are relatively common among both insects and spiders and can affect a male’s mating success. However, not all gifts are what they appear to be. A recent study in the Journal of Arachnology is the first to record the spider Paradossenus longipes using silk-wrapped nuptial gifts in its courtship ritual. This discovery not only adds a new genus to the three already known to make silk-wrapped nuptial gifts, but these South American spiders stand for the unique contents of their gifts. Some males presented females with beautifully wrapped balls of … nothing. Empty gifts — a behavior that has never before been described in spiders. Male, bottom, and female Paradossenus longipes spiders hold an empty nuptial gift, indicated by the arrow, during courtship. Image courtesy of Maria J. Albo. “Empty nuptial gifts are a unique and amazing finding in the animal kingdom,” says Maria Albo, assistant professor at Uruguay’s University of the Republic and the Clemente Estable Biological Research Institute, and a lead researcher on the study. “As far as I know, there is a single example in insects&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/here-goes-nothing-male-spiders-found-giving-females-silk-wrapped-zilch/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-239744</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Top 15 species discoveries from 2020 (Photos)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/photos-top-15-species-discoveries-from-2020/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/photos-top-15-species-discoveries-from-2020/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Dec 2020 12:13:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/12/27225207/SD_Langur.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=238311</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Frogs, Fungi, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Insects, Lemurs, Orchids, Salamanders, Snakes, Species Discovery, Spiders, Wildlife, and Year-end review]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In this well-trodden world, the discovery of a species new to science is an exciting event, a glimmer of the uncharted riches of biodiversity still hidden around the globe. “Every year, as scientists explore the world’s ecosystems, search herbaria and fungaria, sequence organisms’ DNA and, increasingly, browse social media, they come across species of plants [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In this well-trodden world, the discovery of a species new to science is an exciting event, a glimmer of the uncharted riches of biodiversity still hidden around the globe. “Every year, as scientists explore the world’s ecosystems, search herbaria and fungaria, sequence organisms’ DNA and, increasingly, browse social media, they come across species of plants and fungi that have not been scientifically described,” says the “State of the World’s Plants and Fungi 2020” report, released in September by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew). Many new species were described this year, including several snakes, frogs, insects, and even new primate species. Turning to the ocean, scientists spotted a beaked whale that may be a new species and a mysterious coiled siphonophore believed to be the longest animal ever recorded. This coiled siphonophore, found by the Schmidt Ocean Institute off the coast of Australia, is believed to be the largest animal ever recorded, measuring 46 meters (150 feet) in length. Photo via Schmidt Ocean Institute. Plants and fungi also continue to represent an underexplored frontier of diversity. This year, the RBG Kew named 156 plants and fungi from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the U.K. The Missouri Botanical Gardens recently named 10 charismatic plant discoveries from 2020, including a new species of ebony tree, a carnivorous sundew, and a new mint.  However, although a species may be new to science, that doesn’t mean it has never been seen or named. “Many species that are new to science are already known&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/photos-top-15-species-discoveries-from-2020/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-238311</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The world’s a stage for these four new jumping spiders from Sri Lanka</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/the-worlds-a-stage-for-these-four-new-jumping-spiders-from-sri-lanka/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/the-worlds-a-stage-for-these-four-new-jumping-spiders-from-sri-lanka/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jun 2020 03:08:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ifham Nizam]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/06/16030723/Figure_06_S_rosalindae_inlife_singleimages_01_of_02-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=231416</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Research, Species Discovery, and Spiders]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lankan researchers have described the first ever species of jumping spiders from the genus Synagelides that are native to the Indian Ocean island, identifying not one but four of the arachnids. In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa, they name the new species Synagelides hortonensis, S. lakmalii, S. rosalindae and S. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lankan researchers have described the first ever species of jumping spiders from the genus Synagelides that are native to the Indian Ocean island, identifying not one but four of the arachnids. In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa, they name the new species Synagelides hortonensis, S. lakmalii, S. rosalindae and S. orlandoi — the latter two named after the lovers in William Shakespeare’s popular comedy As You Like It. Entomologist Suresh P. Benjamin, a co-author of the new study, told Mongabay these are the first species from the genus described from Sri Lanka, and likely not the last. “There is a lot to study in Sri Lanka,” he said. With more than 6,000 species described worldwide, jumping spiders (family: Salticidae) are the largest known spider family. The recent publication is a part of an ongoing effort to study the endemic arachnids of Sri Lanka, a biodiversity haven best known for its dazzling variety of reptile life. The new discovery brings to 31 the known species of jumping spiders described from Sri Lanka. “The current initiative aims to place the island&#8217;s jumping spiders in a phylogenetic context using different sequencing approaches and advanced bioinformatic pipelines to better understand the evolutionary history of the family,” Benjamin said. Researchers introduced S. hortonensis, a new jumping spider belonging to the genus Synagalides is named after its type locality, the Horton Plains National Park in the central district of Nuwara Eliya. Image courtesy of Suresh P. Benjamin. Found throughout Asia, Synagelides is an unusual&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/the-worlds-a-stage-for-these-four-new-jumping-spiders-from-sri-lanka/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-231416</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sex organs reveal new jumping spider species in the Philippines</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/sex-organs-reveal-new-jumping-spider-species-in-the-philippines/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/sex-organs-reveal-new-jumping-spider-species-in-the-philippines/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jun 2020 21:08:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Leilani]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/06/15210421/spiders3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=231425</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biology, Forests, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Insects, New Discovery, Species Discovery, Spiders, and Taxonomy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MANILA — It took a closer look at the male jumping spiders’ reproductive organ – the shape of it, to be precise — for two Filipino scientists to declare three new species in the Philippines. The father-and-daughter team of Alberto Barrion, an entomologist, and Aimee Lynn Barrion-Dupo, an arachnologist, described the three new species from [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MANILA — It took a closer look at the male jumping spiders’ reproductive organ – the shape of it, to be precise — for two Filipino scientists to declare three new species in the Philippines. The father-and-daughter team of Alberto Barrion, an entomologist, and Aimee Lynn Barrion-Dupo, an arachnologist, described the three new species from the main island of Luzon and published their findings in the Philippine Journal of Systematic Biology. The new species belong to the genus Lepidemathis; before the publication of their paper, there were only four known species from the genus, all of them found only in the Philippines. Though these spiders are common in agricultural and natural ecosystems, only a few people study them, researchers say. Map of the main collection site, Cavinti in Laguna province. Image courtesy of Barrion-Dupo and Barrion The Barrions found each of the three spiders — Lepidemathis cavinti, Lepidemathis dogmai and Lepidemathis lipa — in three different provinces   in southern Luzon in 2014 through the animal biodiversity survey program of the University of the Philippines Los Baños’ Museum of Natural History. During the survey, they collected samples of jumping spiders from Cavinti in Laguna province, and the overlapping areas of Mauban in Quezon province. Back in their laboratory, they compared the spiders they collected and realized that the male reproductive organs of some differed from already described species. It was then that they realized the spiders they’d collected might be new species. “Much of the uniqueness of these spiders are due&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/sex-organs-reveal-new-jumping-spider-species-in-the-philippines/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-231425</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Predators disproportionately impacted by human land use changes, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/03/predators-disproportionately-impacted-by-human-land-use-changes-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/03/predators-disproportionately-impacted-by-human-land-use-changes-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Mar 2020 16:32:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/03/02162436/Malaysian-spider_1210px-768x451.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=227572</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Animals, Birds, Carnivores, Environment, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Invertebrates, Land Use Change, Mammals, Predators, Reptiles, Research, Spiders, Top Predators, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[New research looking at whether particular types of wildlife are more affected than others by habitat loss determined that predators are the most impacted, as was expected — but the study results held some surprises nonetheless. The research team, led by Tim Newbold of University College London (UCL), set out to determine whether or not [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[New research looking at whether particular types of wildlife are more affected than others by habitat loss determined that predators are the most impacted, as was expected — but the study results held some surprises nonetheless. The research team, led by Tim Newbold of University College London (UCL), set out to determine whether or not populations of carnivores and large-bodied animals suffered greater declines than other groups of animals when their habitats are lost due to human endeavors like urbanization or conversion of land to agriculture. Because the loss of plant resources makes it harder for large predators to find sufficient food when land use changes occur within their range, the researchers expected to find that these types of animals would be especially affected. To test their prediction, Newbold and team used a database containing over one million records of the abundance of more than 25,000 species in natural habitats, such as primary forest, and human-disturbed habitats, from intensely managed farmlands to cities, in 80 countries around the world. After sorting animals into groups based on their size, whether they are warm- or cold-blooded, and whether they are carnivores, herbivores, or omnivores, the researchers analyzed the data to determine if large carnivores generally do drop in number more precipitously than other animals when their habitats are degraded or destroyed. The analysis showed that predators are indeed more affected by habitat loss than other groups — but that larger carnivores are not threatened with the largest declines. It was small invertebrates&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/03/predators-disproportionately-impacted-by-human-land-use-changes-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/03/predators-disproportionately-impacted-by-human-land-use-changes-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-227572</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New parasitoid wasp species discovered in Amazon manipulate host behavior in ‘complex way’</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/new-parasitoid-wasp-species-discovered-in-amazon-manipulate-hosts-behavior-in-complex-way/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/new-parasitoid-wasp-species-discovered-in-amazon-manipulate-hosts-behavior-in-complex-way/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Feb 2020 12:31:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/02/21121335/Acrotaphus-wasp_1210px-768x451.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=227316</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Environment, Insects, Parasites, Research, Species Discovery, Spiders, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have discovered 15 new wasp species in lowland Amazon rainforests and Andean cloud forests that parasitize spiders in a “complex way.” The discoveries were made by a research group with the Biodiversity Unit of Finland’s University of Turku, which has studied tropical parasitoid insect diversity for the past two decades, in collaboration with researchers [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have discovered 15 new wasp species in lowland Amazon rainforests and Andean cloud forests that parasitize spiders in a “complex way.” The discoveries were made by a research group with the Biodiversity Unit of Finland’s University of Turku, which has studied tropical parasitoid insect diversity for the past two decades, in collaboration with researchers at Brazil’s Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA). The new species, all of which are wasps of the genus Acrotaphus that parasitize spiders, are described to science in a study published in the journal Zootaxa last month. “Acrotaphus wasps are fascinating because they are very sizeable parasitoids,” Diego Pádua, a postdoctoral researcher and lead author of the study who has worked at the INPA and the Biodiversity Unit of the University of Turku, said in a statement. “The largest species can grow multiple centimetres in length and are also very colourful. Previously, only 11 species of the genus were known, so this new research gives significant new information on the diversity of insects in rain forests.” Female Acrotaphus wasps are known to attack spiders in their webs, temporarily paralyzing the arachnids with a venomous sting so they can lay a single egg on a spider. The wasp larva then hatches from the egg and gradually eats the spider before it pupates. Members of the genus Acrotaphus aren’t the only wasps that parasitize spiders. The genus Idris includes more than 300 species of wasps that parasitize spider eggs. But, showing just how little we know&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/new-parasitoid-wasp-species-discovered-in-amazon-manipulate-hosts-behavior-in-complex-way/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-227316</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Stylish jumping spider named after late fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/stylish-jumping-spider-named-after-late-fashion-icon-karl-lagerfeld/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/stylish-jumping-spider-named-after-late-fashion-icon-karl-lagerfeld/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jul 2019 21:22:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/07/04093312/205093_web.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=220193</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Queensland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Arachnids, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Research, Species Discovery, Spiders, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[If there’s an iconic image of the late Karl Lagerfeld, the creative director of Chanel and Fendi, it’s his signature black-and-white style: white ponytail, black sunglasses, black-and-white suit with high, detachable white-collared shirts. That’s also the look being sported by a tiny black-and-white jumping spider species from Australia, according to a new study. The arachnid, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[If there’s an iconic image of the late Karl Lagerfeld, the creative director of Chanel and Fendi, it’s his signature black-and-white style: white ponytail, black sunglasses, black-and-white suit with high, detachable white-collared shirts. That’s also the look being sported by a tiny black-and-white jumping spider species from Australia, according to a new study. The arachnid, named Jotus karllagerfeldi after the style czar, has large black eyes that resemble sunglasses, and short black-and-white appendages called pedipalps next to its jaw, which resemble a Kent collar. “Karl Lagerfeld inspired us with his unique sense of design and this new spider with big black eyes and white kent collar reminds us of his later looks — a fashion icon in black and white,” researchers write in the paper. A newly described brushed jumping spider species, Jotus karllagerfeldi. Image by Mark Newton/CeNak. In addition to Karl Lagerfeld’s jumping spider, Barbara Baehr, an arachnologist at Queensland Museum, and her colleagues described four more new-to-science species of jumping spiders, including J. albimanus, J. fortiniae, J. moonensis and J. newtoni. The specimens of all five species were drawn from museum collections. All five newly described species belong to a group of miniscule spiders called brushed jumping spiders. The males of these spiders can be black-and-white or extremely colorful, with iridescent turquoise and orange patterns, and are known to perform elaborate mating dances using a brush of long, colorful bristles, known as setae, on their legs to wave to the females. “The males perform unique dance rituals with their&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/stylish-jumping-spider-named-after-late-fashion-icon-karl-lagerfeld/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/stylish-jumping-spider-named-after-late-fashion-icon-karl-lagerfeld/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-220193</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mongabay investigative series helps confirm global insect decline</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/mongabay-investigative-series-helps-confirm-global-insect-decline/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/mongabay-investigative-series-helps-confirm-global-insect-decline/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jun 2019 11:48:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/06/24100750/2-480946-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=219729</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[The Great Insect Crisis]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Asia, Europe, European Union, Germany, Global, Latin America, Mexico, North America, Puerto Rico, South America, Southeast Asia, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Animals, Beetles, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Butterflies, Climate Change, Conservation, Controversial, Deforestation, Ecology, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Extreme Weather, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Herbicides, Industrial Agriculture, Insects, Land Use Change, Logging, Mass Extinction, Moths, Natural Capital, Pesticides, Pollinators, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Research, Spiders, Temperate Forests, Tropical Deforestation, Weather, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Near consensus found among 24 entomologists and scientists working on 6 continents: Insects are likely in serious global decline, but much more data needed.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Read the entire series by Mongabay senior contributor Jeremy Hance here As night falls, numerous insects still fly to the artificial lights of homes in the Kenyan bush. But entomologist Dino Joseph Martins vividly recalls a time when the numbers swarming nightly above his outdoor table were staggering. “You would struggle … to eat your supper because you would have endless beetles and [flying] things falling in your … soup,” he recalls. Today, “that happens far less,” making outdoor dining more pleasant, but far more disquieting. Now Mongabay, in an exclusive four-part series, “The Great Insect Dying,” takes a deep dive into the so-called “Insect Apocalypse.” Interviews with 24 researchers on six continents, and working in 12 nations, are at the heart of the report — likely the most in-depth published on the looming insect abundance crisis by any news media outlet to date. Answers, so far, rest on the hard evidence found in a mere handful of studies, and on the anecdotal, though expert, observations by scientists. Despite limited peer-reviewed research, the scientists interviewed are in near consensus, agreeing that insects are very likely in significant decline globally. Part One of the series, an introduction to the issue, looks at the hard evidence. First news of a possible “Insect Apocalypse” broke in 2017 with groundbreaking research in temperate Europe, where researchers were stunned to learn that flying insect abundance fell by 75 percent in just 27 years in Germany’s nature reserves. Then, in 2018, tropical researchers reported that total&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/mongabay-investigative-series-helps-confirm-global-insect-decline/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-219729</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How to save insects and ourselves</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/the-great-insect-dying-how-to-save-insects-and-ourselves/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/the-great-insect-dying-how-to-save-insects-and-ourselves/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jun 2019 09:50:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/06/06175222/1280px-Compound_eye_of_a_Bumblebee-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=219219</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[The Great Insect Crisis]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Asia, Borneo, Central America, Costa Rica, European Union, Germany, Global, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Latin America, Netherlands, North America, Oceania, Puerto Rico, South Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Animals, Beetles, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Butterflies, Cattle, Climate Change, Conservation, Controversial, Deforestation, Ecology, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Extreme Weather, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Herbicides, Industrial Agriculture, Insects, Land Use Change, Logging, Mass Extinction, Moths, Natural Capital, Pesticides, Pollinators, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Ranching, Research, Spiders, Temperate Forests, Tropical Deforestation, Weather, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the fourth and final story of this exclusive Mongabay series, entomologists around the world offer far ranging solutions to curb and reverse the great insect die-off.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In recent months a debate over whether a global insect apocalypse is underway has raged in the mainstream media and among researchers. To assess the range of scientific opinion, Mongabay interviewed 24 entomologists and other scientists working on six continents, in more than a dozen countries, to better determine what we know, what we don’t, and most importantly — what we should do about it. This is part 4 of a four part exclusive series written by Mongabay senior contributor Jeremy Hance. Click on the following links to read part 1, part 2, and part 3. They formed the unlikeliest of survey teams: in 2017, University of Reno entomologist Lee Dyer, graduate student Danielle Salcido, and executives from some of the world’s biggest banks spent a week roughing it at a gathering facilitated by the Earthwatch Institute. The team chatted, laughed, hiked and scrounged the coniferous forests of Arizona’s Chiricahua National Forest hunting for bugs. At night, the researchers gave presentations about the impacts of global warming on insect populations. On the last day, a researcher offered a talk on the value of native plantings around homes — a message that really connected. “They loved that talk; discussion ensued, and they left with excitement to plant native trees in their yards,” says Salcido. But she worries whether this small-scale solution undercut a week’s worth of messaging to get these powerful people to comprehend the links between a rapidly warming world, plummeting insect populations, and the impacts both may have on ecosystems and civilization.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/the-great-insect-dying-how-to-save-insects-and-ourselves/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-219219</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The tropics in trouble and some hope</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/the-great-insect-dying-the-tropics-in-trouble-and-some-hope/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/the-great-insect-dying-the-tropics-in-trouble-and-some-hope/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jun 2019 11:12:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/06/06134017/Coleoptera_SMNK_web-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=219216</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[The Great Insect Crisis]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Australia, Borneo, Brazil, Congo Basin, East Africa, Global, Indonesia, Kenya, Latin America, Mexico, Oceania, Papua New Guinea, Puerto Rico, South Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Animals, Beetles, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Butterflies, Cattle, Climate Change, Conservation, Controversial, Deforestation, Ecology, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Extreme Weather, Forests, Funding, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Herbicides, Industrial Agriculture, Insects, Land Use Change, Logging, Mass Extinction, Moths, Pesticides, Pollinators, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Ranching, Research, Spiders, Tropical Deforestation, Weather, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Tropical insects are wildly diverse, but most species are unstudied or unknown, even as they’re heavily impacted by deforestation, climate change and pesticides. ]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In recent months a debate over whether a global insect apocalypse is underway has raged in the mainstream media and among researchers. To assess the range of scientific opinion, Mongabay interviewed 24 entomologists and other scientists working on six continents, in more than a dozen countries, to better determine what we know, what we don’t, and most importantly — what we should do about it. This is part 3 of a four part exclusive series written by Mongabay senior contributor Jeremy Hance. Click on the following links to read part 1 and part 2. Early in the 1980s, a beetle-mad scientist named Terry Erwin decided to count the number of Coleoptera species — the insect order containing beetles and weevils — chilling in the rainforest canopy. He was trying to answer a really big question: how many total species live on Earth? And he figured beetles, one of the planet’s super-families, was the place to start. So he packed off to Panama and picked 19 trees of a single species, Luehea seemannii. Then, he bombed them with pesticide — a method dubbed “fogging,” well known to entomologists and exterminators. Counting the dead, Erwin identified 988 distinct beetle species. Then he did some back-of-napkin-calculations, estimating how many of those beetles might be endemic to Luehea seemannii, and how many rainforest tree species there might be in the world, etc., etc., until he concluded there could be 30 million tropical arthropod species on the planet. Most scientists today have considerably curbed that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/the-great-insect-dying-the-tropics-in-trouble-and-some-hope/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-219216</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Vanishing act in Europe and North America</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/the-great-insect-dying-vanishing-act-in-europe-and-north-america/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/the-great-insect-dying-vanishing-act-in-europe-and-north-america/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jun 2019 12:09:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/05/29164546/12-20100815_449_SY_Hehy_web-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=218968</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[The Great Insect Crisis]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, Germany, Global, Mexico, North America, Puerto Rico, Tropics, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Animals, Beetles, Biodiversity, Butterflies, Climate Change, Conservation, Controversial, Deforestation, Ecology, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Extreme Weather, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Herbicides, Industrial Agriculture, Insects, Land Use Change, Mass Extinction, Moths, Pesticides, Pollinators, Research, Spiders, Temperate Forests, Weather, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The insects of the EU and US are the best studied in the world, and it is here that a strengthening case can be made for an alarming insect abundance decline.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In recent months a debate over whether a global insect apocalypse is underway has raged in the mainstream media and among researchers. To assess the range of scientific opinion, Mongabay interviewed 24 entomologists and other scientists working on six continents, in more than a dozen countries, to better determine what we know, what we don’t, and, most importantly, what we should do about it. This is part two of a four-part exclusive series by Mongabay senior contributor Jeremy Hance. Read Part I, &#8220;A global look at a deepening crisis&#8221; here. Tyson Wepprich, a postdoctoral research associate at Oregon State University, was only supposed to be looking at the presence or absence of butterfly species in Ohio. But news of insect decline, in blockbuster studies from Germany and Puerto Rico, changed his plans. His team is now also looking hard at overall abundance — and the early results aren’t good. “The trends are similar to those in long-term European butterfly monitoring where abundance, summed across all species, is declining at around 2 percent per year,” he says of the team’s unpublished work (Wepprich&#8217;s work is now published here), and “about twice as many species are declining rather than increasing.” Wepprich’s ongoing research is just another sign that something may be seriously amiss with the world’s insects — something some entomologists have privately suspected, but which they are only now beginning to prove and publish about. “I used to think of conservation as policies to save rare species from extinction,” Wepprich says,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/the-great-insect-dying-vanishing-act-in-europe-and-north-america/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-218968</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A global look at a deepening crisis</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/the-great-insect-dying-a-global-look-at-a-deepening-crisis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/the-great-insect-dying-a-global-look-at-a-deepening-crisis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jun 2019 11:24:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/05/28183400/brasil_157-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=218951</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[The Great Insect Crisis]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Europe, European Union, Germany, Global, Kenya, North America, Puerto Rico, Tropics, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Animals, Bees, Beetles, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Butterflies, Climate Change, Conservation, Controversial, Deforestation, Ecology, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Extreme Weather, Farming, Food, Food Industry, food security, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Herbicides, Industrial Agriculture, Insects, Land Use Change, Logging, Mass Extinction, Moths, Natural Capital, Pesticides, Pollinators, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Research, Spiders, Temperate Forests, Tropical Deforestation, Weather, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Recent surveys hint at an insect apocalypse. But are insects at risk globally? Mongabay talks with 24 scientists on 6 continents to find out in an exclusive new series.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In recent months a debate over whether a global insect apocalypse is underway has raged in the mainstream media and among researchers. To assess the range of scientific opinion, Mongabay interviewed 24 entomologists and other scientists working on six continents, in more than a dozen countries, to better determine what we know, what we don’t, and, most importantly, what we should do about it. This is part one of a four-part exclusive series by Mongabay senior contributor Jeremy Hance. Read Part II, &#8220;Vanishing act in Europe and North America&#8221; here. Dust stirred up by the wind turns a Kenyan sunset deep scarlet. Then, as day fades to night, millions, maybe billions, of insects, fly to the artificial lights of homes found at the edge of the bush. One of those residents is Dino Joseph Martins, and while his evidence is anecdotal, the entomologist is a highly qualified observer. Martins has vivid recollections of a time when the abundance of insects swirling around the lights illuminating his outdoor dinner table were staggering. “You would struggle to sit down to eat your supper because you would have endless beetles and [flying] things falling in your bowl of soup,” he said. Today, “that happens far less.” Now, dinner in the African bush may be a pleasanter affair, but it’s much more disquieting. Martins, the executive director of the Mpala Research Center, was born and raised in Kenya. As a child, he recalls visiting forests during the wet season that were filled with “tens&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/the-great-insect-dying-a-global-look-at-a-deepening-crisis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/the-great-insect-dying-a-global-look-at-a-deepening-crisis/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-218951</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Video: scientists capture giant spider eating an opossum</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/video-scientists-capture-giant-spider-eating-an-opossum/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/video-scientists-capture-giant-spider-eating-an-opossum/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Mar 2019 14:02:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/03/02135311/spider_Pamphobeteus_and_Chiasmocleis_royi-Emanuele_Biggi_1280-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=216092</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Environment, Invertebrates, Spiders, Strange, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For the first time, researchers have documented a giant spider eating an opossum in the Amazon rainforest. Writing in the February 28th issue of the journal Amphibian &#038; Reptile Conservation, a team of scientists led by Rudolf von May of the University of Michigan describe several rarely observed cases of invertebrates eating various vertebrates, including [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For the first time, researchers have documented a giant spider eating an opossum in the Amazon rainforest. Writing in the February 28th issue of the journal Amphibian &#038; Reptile Conservation, a team of scientists led by Rudolf von May of the University of Michigan describe several rarely observed cases of invertebrates eating various vertebrates, including frogs, lizards, snakes, and even a mammal &#8212; a mouse opossum. The same individual of Pamphobeteus sp. dragging the mouse opossum on the leaf litter. Photo by Maggie Grundler The mouse opossum incident occurred in 2016 in the Peruvian Amazon. While on a herpetological survey at night, a group of three University of Michigan biology students “heard some scrabbling in the leaf litter,” according to Michael Grundler, a University of Michigan graduate student. What they saw &#8220;shocked&#8221; them. “We looked over and we saw a large tarantula on top of an opossum,” said Grundler, a co-author of the paper, in a statement. “The opossum had already been grasped by the tarantula and was still struggling weakly at that point, but after about 30 seconds it stopped kicking.” Grundler said the tarantula was about the size of a dinner plate, while the opossum was the size of a softball, making for a dramatic and unexpected scene. “We couldn’t really believe what we were seeing,” Grundler said. “We knew we were witnessing something pretty special, but we weren’t aware that it was the first observation until after the fact.” Indeed, an opossum expert at the American Museum&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/video-scientists-capture-giant-spider-eating-an-opossum/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/video-scientists-capture-giant-spider-eating-an-opossum/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-216092</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: Here are the winners of the 2018 British Ecological Society photo contest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/photos-here-are-the-winners-of-the-2018-british-ecological-society-photo-contest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/photos-here-are-the-winners-of-the-2018-british-ecological-society-photo-contest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Dec 2018 12:23:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/12/03112931/Overall-Winner-Chris-WC-Oosthuizen_1200px-cropped-768x469.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=213038</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Animals, Bats, Birds, Canids, Climate Change, Environment, Frogs, Herps, Insects, Mammals, Marine, Penguins, Photos, Reptiles, Snakes, Spiders, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A king penguin standing out starkly from the crowd took the top prize in the British Ecological Society’s “Capturing Ecology” photo competition this year. Chris Oosthuizen of South Africa’s University of Pretoria snapped the winning image of a single colorful adult king penguin amidst a crowd of brown-colored chicks on Marion Island, part of the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A king penguin standing out starkly from the crowd took the top prize in the British Ecological Society’s “Capturing Ecology” photo competition this year. Chris Oosthuizen of South Africa’s University of Pretoria snapped the winning image of a single colorful adult king penguin amidst a crowd of brown-colored chicks on Marion Island, part of the Prince Edward Islands in the Indian Ocean. The photo was taken while Oosthuizen spent a year on the remote, sub-Antarctic island researching seals and killer whales. “Some images have the power to say much more than words, and Chris’s image, which showcases the remarkable colony life of an iconic bird species, raises awareness of their uncertain future due to climate change,” Richard Bardgett, President of the British Ecological Society, said in a statement. Oosthuizen, for his part, also seemed hopeful that the prize-winning photo might help draw attention to the challenges king penguins face due to the impacts of human activities. “Although the global population of king penguins is large, populations inhabiting islands around the Antarctic face an uncertain future,” he said. “Global climate change may shift the oceanic fronts where they feed further away from breeding sites, forcing penguins to travel farther to reach their foraging grounds.” Adrià López Baucells, a PhD student at Portugal’s University of Lisbon, was the overall student winner of this year’s Capturing Ecology contest. López Baucells and his colleague Oriol Massana used a motion sensor and four synchronized flashes to capture a fringe-lipped bat in mid-flight as it preys&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/photos-here-are-the-winners-of-the-2018-british-ecological-society-photo-contest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/photos-here-are-the-winners-of-the-2018-british-ecological-society-photo-contest/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-213038</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Online citizen science data platforms help scientists predict species ranges</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/online-citizen-science-data-platforms-help-scientists-predict-species-ranges/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/online-citizen-science-data-platforms-help-scientists-predict-species-ranges/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Aug 2018 13:25:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri (1965-2019)]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/08/22121531/Northern-black-widow_Judy-Gallagher_Flickr-CC2.0_small-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=209574</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Citizen Science, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, data, Invertebrates, Research, Solutions, Spiders, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Changing climate has already affected where some species live. To determine how changes in temperature and rainfall patterns may affect a given plant or animal, researchers need to know where the species used to live and where it lives now. Such geographic distribution data help scientists understand a species’ habitat requirements and vulnerability to environmental [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Changing climate has already affected where some species live. To determine how changes in temperature and rainfall patterns may affect a given plant or animal, researchers need to know where the species used to live and where it lives now. Such geographic distribution data help scientists understand a species’ habitat requirements and vulnerability to environmental changes, but they are lacking for many species, especially smaller or less-well-studied ones. Now, though, a new study has demonstrated how the recent availability of online citizen science data may be able to help scientists fill these data gaps to better understand and map species distributions. A colorful but venomous northern black widow spider from Missouri, USA, one of the two focal species in this study. Image by Leslie Durham via BugGuide, CC-BY-ND-NC 1.0. Researchers have traditionally approximated the ranges of plants and animals from collection locations of specimens in museums, private collections and historical literature. But with millions of species and relatively few field scientists, museum data are incomplete: they include only a handful of records for a species, they lack the geographic location of some collection sites, or they pertain to specimens collected decades ago. This is especially true for invertebrates such as insects and other arthropods. Scientists may, therefore, know that a certain species has been found in a few discrete locations, but not how it is distributed across the landscape or where it has been detected since climate shifts have been measured. Help may be on the way, in the form&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/online-citizen-science-data-platforms-help-scientists-predict-species-ranges/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/online-citizen-science-data-platforms-help-scientists-predict-species-ranges/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-209574</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A warmer climate tinkers with Arctic spider’s choice of prey</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/a-warmer-climate-tinkers-with-arctic-spiders-choice-of-prey/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/a-warmer-climate-tinkers-with-arctic-spiders-choice-of-prey/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jul 2018 08:54:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/07/24055551/175950-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=208572</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Ecology, Environment, Global Warming, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Insects, Mammals, Mitigation, Nitrogen Cycle, Predators, Research, Spiders, Top Predators, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Climate change could shift the appetites of Arctic spiders, leading to the slower release of carbon from the thawing tundra, according to new research led by biologist Amanda Koltz of Washington University in St. Louis. “Spiders are not going to save us from climate change,” Koltz said in a statement, “but we found that decomposition [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Climate change could shift the appetites of Arctic spiders, leading to the slower release of carbon from the thawing tundra, according to new research led by biologist Amanda Koltz of Washington University in St. Louis. “Spiders are not going to save us from climate change,” Koltz said in a statement, “but we found that decomposition is slower under warming when there are more wolf spiders present.” One of the team’s experimental plots on the tundra in Alaska. Image by Amanda Koltz/Washington University in St. Louis. Spiders aren’t at the top of most lists of quintessentially “Arctic” animals. But they’re abundant on the tundra. In fact, Arctic wolf spiders (Pardosa glacialis) outweigh more recognizable gray wolves (Canis lupus) by 80 times in the area of Alaska around Toolik Field Station, where Koltz’s team set up sample plots to test the effects of warmer temperatures on the spiders. And wolf spiders are vital players in the ecosystem, sitting near the top of the food web, so when their tastes change, the effects can ripple through the ecosystem. One of the wolf spider’s favorite prey is the insect-like springtail. Springtails eat fungus, which in turn is a significant consumer of dead plants. It’s a critical role: As fungi break up decaying material, they unlock the cached nutrients and make them available to the tundra’s plants. In the process, however, they also release climate-warming carbon. “The way that organisms interact with one another can influence important ecosystem functions like how much carbon stays fixed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/a-warmer-climate-tinkers-with-arctic-spiders-choice-of-prey/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-208572</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New ‘goblin spiders’ from Sri Lanka named after Enid Blyton characters</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/06/new-goblin-spiders-from-sri-lanka-named-after-enid-blyton-characters/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/06/new-goblin-spiders-from-sri-lanka-named-after-enid-blyton-characters/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Jun 2018 01:26:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/06/22011719/Silhouetella-tiggy-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=207604</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Arachnids, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Forests, Research, Species Discovery, Spiders, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Meet Chippy, Snooky and Tumpy — all “goblins” or “brownies” from Enid Blyton’s children’s books, and now the names of new species of tiny spiders that scientists have found lurking in Sri Lanka’s forests. These new species belong to a spider family called “goblin spiders” (Oonopidae family), a group of extremely small arachnids, typically measuring [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Meet Chippy, Snooky and Tumpy — all “goblins” or “brownies” from Enid Blyton’s children’s books, and now the names of new species of tiny spiders that scientists have found lurking in Sri Lanka’s forests. These new species belong to a spider family called “goblin spiders” (Oonopidae family), a group of extremely small arachnids, typically measuring just one to three millimeters in length. In all, the team of researchers, led by arachnologist Suresh Benjamin of the National Institute of Fundamental Studies in Sri Lanka, have described nine new species of these goblin spiders in a new study published in Evolutionary Systematics.  Six of the newly described species — Silhouettella snippy, Silhouettella tiggy, Cavisternum bom, Ischnothyreus chippy, Pelicinus snooky, and Pelicinus tumpy — have been named after popular characters from Enid Blyton books, including Snooky, a “naughty little goblin” from “The Firework Goblins,” and Bom and Tumpy, goblins from “The Goblin Looking Glass.” “We are always looking for names for new species, and this was also the case during the writing of this paper,” Benjamin told Mongabay in an email. “My son (9) and daughter (6) had discovered some old Enid Blyton books that belonged to me and my two siblings while playing at my parent’s place. They brought them home and said ‘dada can you read these to us’. The first story I read to them was the story of The Firework Goblins.” Cavisternum bom, a newly described spider named after a character from Blyton&#8217;s “The Goblins Looking-Glass”. Image courtesy of Suresh Benjamin. Ischnothyreus chippy, a newly described spider&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/06/new-goblin-spiders-from-sri-lanka-named-after-enid-blyton-characters/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-207604</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Webs under water: The really bizarre lives of intertidal spiders</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/02/webs-under-water-the-really-bizarre-lives-of-intertidal-spiders/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/02/webs-under-water-the-really-bizarre-lives-of-intertidal-spiders/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Feb 2018 04:21:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bhanu Sridharan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Maria Angeles Salazar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/02/14050513/spiders-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=203764</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Arachnids, Biodiversity, Conservation, Habitat, Oceans, Research, Spiders, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Spiders are one of the most ubiquitous creatures on Earth, found on every continent except Antarctica. Whether in underground caves in the Amazon or the icy climes of Mount Everest, there is a species of spider that has moved into practically every land habitat. But some arachnids are determined to not even let the oceans [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Spiders are one of the most ubiquitous creatures on Earth, found on every continent except Antarctica. Whether in underground caves in the Amazon or the icy climes of Mount Everest, there is a species of spider that has moved into practically every land habitat. But some arachnids are determined to not even let the oceans stand in their way — and scientists have just discovered a new one. A spider named for the late reggae legend Bob Marley is the newest member of the 15 known species of so-called intertidal spiders. These weird spiders inhabit the intertidal zone: a stretch of land that is submerged during high tide and exposed during low. Scientists from Australia’s Queensland Museum and the Zoological Museum at the University of Hamburg, Germany, first found Bob Marley’s spider (Desis bobmarleyi) in 2009 and described it last December. A male Bob Marley’s spider (Desis bobmarleyi), discovered in Port Douglas in Queensland, Australia. Photo by Robert Raven “The connection to Bob Marley was first through his song ‘high tide [or] low tide’ as these spiders live in the high tide low tide zone,” said Barbara Baehr, a research scientist from the Queensland Museum and the lead author of the paper. The mix of land and sea in the intertidal zone supports a wildly diverse set of habitats. For instance, Baehr found Bob Marley’s spider on brain corals in shallow reefs on the rocky Queensland coast. But another intertidal species, Desis formidablis, or the formidable spider, lives under boulders&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/02/webs-under-water-the-really-bizarre-lives-of-intertidal-spiders/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-203764</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Stranger than fiction? New spiders found in Brazil named after creatures from popular fantasy stories</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/stranger-than-fiction-new-spiders-found-in-brazil-named-after-creatures-from-popular-fantasy-stories/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/stranger-than-fiction-new-spiders-found-in-brazil-named-after-creatures-from-popular-fantasy-stories/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jan 2018 16:51:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/01/24163657/oo_178204-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=203186</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Environment, Mining, Rainforests, Species Discovery, Spiders, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The worlds created by fantasy authors like J. R. R. Tolkien and J. K. Rowling are perhaps best known for their magicians and mythical beasts like dragons, but it would appear one real-life creature, the spider, is just as mysterious to some people, because spiders have often been featured prominently as characters in fantastic literature, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The worlds created by fantasy authors like J. R. R. Tolkien and J. K. Rowling are perhaps best known for their magicians and mythical beasts like dragons, but it would appear one real-life creature, the spider, is just as mysterious to some people, because spiders have often been featured prominently as characters in fantastic literature, as well. Many of these true-to-life fantasy creatures are now getting some of the recognition they deserve as Brazilian researchers have named seven newly discovered spider species in honor of characters from works like The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series. The seven new spiders all belong to the genus Ochyrocera and were found in the iron caves of Floresta Nacional de Carajás in the northern Brazilian state of Pará. But while they were discovered primarily in caves, the 2,000 specimens gathered by researchers with the Sao Paulo, Brazil-based Instituto Butantan do not exhibit what are called “troglomorphic characteristics” — physical attributes like a lack of pigmentation and diminished or missing eyes that are typical adaptations for species that live exclusively underground or in caves. Instead, the spiders are what’s known as “edaphic troglophile species,” meaning they’re “capable of completing [their] life cycle in soil, shallow subterranean habitats, or caves,” the researchers write in a study published in the journal ZooKeys in which they described the seven new species to science. Two of the seven new species were actually collected outside of caves. This is the new species Ochyrocera atlachnacha on its&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/stranger-than-fiction-new-spiders-found-in-brazil-named-after-creatures-from-popular-fantasy-stories/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-203186</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: Top 20 new species of 2017</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/12/photos-top-20-new-species-of-2017/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/12/photos-top-20-new-species-of-2017/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Dec 2017 11:43:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/11/02115724/Batang-Toru-Maxime-Aliaga-581-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=202498</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Animals, Apes, Beetles, Biodiversity, Environment, Fish, Frogs, Great Apes, Herps, Lemurs, Lizards, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Orangutans, Primates, Reptiles, Rodents, Species Discovery, Spiders, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[There’s still so much we don’t know about life on planet Earth that scientists discover new species with whom we share this planet nearly every day. For instance, this year scientists described a new species of orangutan in Sumatra — just the eighth great ape species known to exist on planet Earth. Sometimes we discover [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[There’s still so much we don’t know about life on planet Earth that scientists discover new species with whom we share this planet nearly every day. For instance, this year scientists described a new species of orangutan in Sumatra — just the eighth great ape species known to exist on planet Earth. Sometimes we discover new species that have been hiding right under our noses — like the six new species of silky anteater that were mistakenly lumped in with the one known, widespread species in Central and South America. Then there are new species that surprise even the scientists who discovered them — such as the new butterflyfish recently discovered in the Philippine’s Verde Island Passage, even though butterflyfish are a relatively well-studied group. Some new species are named after famous people or characters in an attempt to draw more attention and awareness to the natural world — including new spiders named for David Bowie, Barack and Michelle Obama, and Bernie Sanders, as well as a new bat sometimes referred to as “the Yoda bat” because of its resemblance to the diminutive Jedi Master from the Star Wars films. A lot of newly discovered species can certainly use the attention, given that they are already facing severe threats from human activities, even though we just learned of their existence — as is the case with the a new catfish found in South America and the newly discovered orangutan species. Here, in no particular order, we present the top 20&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/12/photos-top-20-new-species-of-2017/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-202498</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Meet the new Bernie Sanders spider</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/09/meet-the-new-bernie-sanders-spider/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/09/meet-the-new-bernie-sanders-spider/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Sep 2017 14:46:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/09/29142924/151217_web-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=199522</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Caribbean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Environment, Species Discovery, Spiders, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Several newly discovered spider species have been named in honor of US Senator Bernie Sanders and other outspoken supporters of human rights and climate action. Together with four of his undergraduate students, Ingi Agnarsson, a spider expert and professor of biology at the University of Vermont (Sanders’ home state), described 15 new spiders in a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Several newly discovered spider species have been named in honor of US Senator Bernie Sanders and other outspoken supporters of human rights and climate action. Together with four of his undergraduate students, Ingi Agnarsson, a spider expert and professor of biology at the University of Vermont (Sanders’ home state), described 15 new spiders in a paper published by the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society this week. &#8220;This was an undergraduate research project,&#8221; Agnarsson said in a statement. &#8220;In naming these spiders, the students and I wanted to honor people who stood up for both human rights and warned about climate change — leaders and artists who promoted sensible approaches for a better world.&#8221; All 15 of the new species belong to the genus Spintharus and are known as &#8220;smiley-faced&#8221; spiders because of the patterning on their abdomens that resemble a smiley face. The spiders were formerly believed to belong to one single species widely dispersed across the Americas, from northern North America all the way down to northern Brazil, according to Agnarsson. But a research team led by Agnarsson and co-author Greta Binford of Lewis &amp; Clark College in Portland, Oregon that collected Spintharus specimens found throughout the Caribbean islands, the Southeast United States, Mexico, and Colombia, discovered that that single species was actually several endemic species. &#8220;And if we keep looking, we&#8217;re sure there are more,&#8221; Agnarsson said. This is a female Bernie Sanders spider &mdash; Spintharus berniesandersi &mdash; in a lateral view. Composite photo created by undergraduate&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/09/meet-the-new-bernie-sanders-spider/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-199522</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Australian spider named for world champion surfer</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/06/australian-spider-named-for-three-time-world-champion-surfer/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/06/australian-spider-named-for-three-time-world-champion-surfer/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jun 2017 14:00:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/06/09135314/Spider-with-same-pattern-as-mickfanningi-Credit_Ben-Revell-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=196476</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Environment, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Invertebrates, Species Discovery, Spiders, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Australian Mick Fanning is a three-time world champion surfer, and now he has another accolade to his name: an eponymous spider species. Pisauridae mickfanningi is a newly discovered species of water spider named in the surfer’s honor. The Queensland Museum actually let the public name the new species as part of the World Science Festival [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Australian Mick Fanning is a three-time world champion surfer, and now he has another accolade to his name: an eponymous spider species. Pisauridae mickfanningi is a newly discovered species of water spider named in the surfer’s honor. The Queensland Museum actually let the public name the new species as part of the World Science Festival Brisbane, which took place in late March. The public was asked to submit names inspired by the science festival and its setting in Queensland. Brazilian arachnologist and surfing fan Hector Manuel Osório Gonzalez Filho submitted the name mickfanningi for the new water spider as a tribute to Fanning, whose favorite surfing spot is said to be Snapper Rocks in Queensland. “Both Mick Fanning and the Queensland scientists who discovered this new species of spider are world leaders in their respective fields, so it’s fitting to bring the two together in this way,” Queensland Premier and Arts Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk said in a statement. This isn’t the first time the World Science Festival Brisbane inspired the name of a new spider species. “In 2016, we named a surfing spider Dolomedes briangreenei in honour of World Science Festival co-founder and astrophysicist Brian Greene,” according to Queensland Museum Network CEO and Director Professor Suzanne Miller, “and this year the surfing theme has followed suit, with the winning entry named for the Australian surfing legend.” Pisauridae mickfanningi male (left) and female (right). Photo courtesy of Queensland Museum. The spider was discovered by Queensland Museum arachnologist Robert Raven and his&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/06/australian-spider-named-for-three-time-world-champion-surfer/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-196476</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>50 new spiders discovered in Australia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/05/50-new-spiders-discovered-in-australia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/05/50-new-spiders-discovered-in-australia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 May 2017 04:46:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/05/12031814/New-species-of-jumping-spider-Salticidae-Jotus-sp.-nov.-cf-auripes--768x490.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=195653</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Arachnids, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Invertebrates, Species Discovery, Spiders, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A two-week expedition in Australia&#8217;s Cape York Peninsula has uncovered 50 new species of spiders. The expedition, which identified spiders ranging from tarantulas as big as a human face to ant-mimicking spiders smaller than a thumbnail, involved 23 scientists, indigenous rangers and traditional owners. The surveys were part of the Bush Blitz discovery project, a partnership [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A two-week expedition in Australia&#8217;s Cape York Peninsula has uncovered 50 new species of spiders. The expedition, which identified spiders ranging from tarantulas as big as a human face to ant-mimicking spiders smaller than a thumbnail, involved 23 scientists, indigenous rangers and traditional owners. The surveys were part of the Bush Blitz discovery project, a partnership between the Australian Government, BHP Billiton Sustainable Communities and Earthwatch. The diversity of spiders in the area was &#8220;mind blowing&#8221;, Robert Raven, the Principle Curator of spiders at the Queensland Museum told Australian Geographic in an interview. Under just one rock, Raven found spiders from six arachnid orders. &#8220;It was absolutely spectacular to see all these six groups together,” he said in the interview. New species of Brush-footed Trap-door spider – Mygalomorphae Barychelidae Idiomata sp. Photo by R. Whyte. This expedition is likely to result in the greatest number of new spiders discovered on a Bush Blitz research trip, scientists say. Bush Blitz expeditions have discovered nearly 1,200 new species till date, including 201 new species of spiders. “This was one of the largest number of species Bush Blitz has ever discovered during one expedition,” the team said in a statement. “Far north Queensland can boast an extraordinary variety of spiders.” The researchers are now identifying and describing the spiders for formal scientific classification. This is the first time the West Quinkan in Cape York Peninsula has been biologically surveyed, said Brad Grogan, Western Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation manager. &#8220;Hopefully this expedition will help us identify areas&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/05/50-new-spiders-discovered-in-australia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-195653</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>This new spider looks like the sorting hat from Harry Potter</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/12/this-new-spider-looks-like-the-sorting-hat-from-harry-potter/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/12/this-new-spider-looks-like-the-sorting-hat-from-harry-potter/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Dec 2016 06:47:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/12/14063042/Eriovixia-gryffindori-Lateral-view.-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=191684</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Arachnids, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Invertebrates, Species Discovery, Spiders, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scientists have discovered yet another “fantastic beast”. In a forest in central Western Ghats, India, researchers Javed Ahmed, Rajashree Khalap and wildlife photographer Sumukha J.N. have found a new species of spider that looks like the magical sorting hat from the popular Harry Potter series. The spider was collected from a small sacred grove &#8212; [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Scientists have discovered yet another “fantastic beast”. In a forest in central Western Ghats, India, researchers Javed Ahmed, Rajashree Khalap and wildlife photographer Sumukha J.N. have found a new species of spider that looks like the magical sorting hat from the popular Harry Potter series. The spider was collected from a small sacred grove &#8212; patches of forests preserved ancestrally by local communities &#8212; in Shivamogga district in the southern state of Karnataka where it was lurking among some dried leaves, the researchers report in a new study published in the Indian Journal of Arachnology. “When we first came across the spider, we did think it bore an uncanny resemblance to the sorting hat from Ms. Rowling&#8217;s books and films,” lead author Ahmed, an independent researcher, told Mongabay. “But we had absolutely no idea that it was a new species until much later, when I dissected the spider, and examined and compared its genitalia with those of closely related, existing species.” As fans of the Harry Potter franchise, Ahmed and his team chose to name the spider Eriovixia gryffindori after the magical sorting hat, owned by Godric Gryffindor, one of the founders of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Eriovixia gryffindor, a new species of spider was discovered in Karnataka. India. Photo credit: Sumukha J. N. The tiny spider is an excellent mimic, and is adept at resembling dried foliage. “The most interesting aspect of this particular species is its ability to make itself disappear amongst dry foliage, much like&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/12/this-new-spider-looks-like-the-sorting-hat-from-harry-potter/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-191684</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists have discovered six new dancing peacock spiders in Australia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/scientists-have-discovered-six-new-dancing-peacock-spiders-in-australia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/scientists-have-discovered-six-new-dancing-peacock-spiders-in-australia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2016 18:08:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/07/01195933/Maratus-ottoi-Credit-Micael-Doe-493x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=187627</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Environment, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Species Discovery, Spiders, Strange, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Six new species of peacock spiders have been discovered in Australia. The tiny spiders measure less than four millimeters in length, but make up for their diminutive size with vigorous, leg-waving mating dances that resemble intricate dance moves. In fact, one of the colorful new spiders, Maratus lincunxin, was named after Chinese-trained dancer and Queensland [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Six new species of peacock spiders have been discovered in Australia. The tiny spiders measure less than four millimeters in length, but make up for their diminutive size with vigorous, leg-waving mating dances that resemble intricate dance moves. In fact, one of the colorful new spiders, Maratus lincunxin, was named after Chinese-trained dancer and Queensland Ballet artistic director Li Cunxin. Queensland Museum scientist Dr Barbara Baehr discovered Maratus lincunxin at Carnarvon Station in western Queensland and decided to name the species in honor of Li Cunxin after a visit to the ballet with her daughter. “As I sat and watched Queensland Ballet’s latest performance, I thought it was stunning, with a fairy-tale like essence that was so marvellous and sweet that it reminded me so much of the dancing of the peacock spiders,” Baehr said in a statement. “It was then I decided I should name the spider after Li Cunxin, famous for his autobiography Mao’s Last Dancer, and his magnificent dancing skills, much like that of the peacock spider.” Australia’s ABC News put together this GIF from videos of peacock spiders’ mating dances captured by scientist Jurgen Otto: https://zippy.gfycat.com/BackMadeupBrownbutterfly.webm Li Cunxin said he was honored by the fact that a Queensland Ballet performance inspired the naming of the new species. “After watching its elaborate dance, I can see why Dr. Baehr was inspired by the graceful dancers in our Company,” he said in a statement. “It is certainly heart-warming to know that our dancers can provide such inspiration to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/scientists-have-discovered-six-new-dancing-peacock-spiders-in-australia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
					<enclosure url="https://zippy.gfycat.com/BackMadeupBrownbutterfly.webm" length="356858" type="video/webm" />
					<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-187627</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New tarantula named after Nobel Laureate Gabriel García Márquez</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/new-tarantula-named-after-nobel-laureate-gabriel-garcia-marquez/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/new-tarantula-named-after-nobel-laureate-gabriel-garcia-marquez/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jul 2016 07:02:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/07/01200529/Screen-Shot-2016-07-04-at-12.19.01-pm-452x330.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=187424</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Arachnids, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Invertebrates, Species Discovery, and Spiders]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scientists have discovered a new species of tarantula in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Maria mountain range in Colombia. And it is badass. Many tarantulas subdue their enemies by shooting a ball of barbed hairs into the air. They do this by vigorously rubbing their hind legs against their bellies. The hairs have sharp tips [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Scientists have discovered a new species of tarantula in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Maria mountain range in Colombia. And it is badass. Many tarantulas subdue their enemies by shooting a ball of barbed hairs into the air. They do this by vigorously rubbing their hind legs against their bellies. The hairs have sharp tips that can then penetrate into the enemy’s skin or mucous membrane, causing irritation. But the new species, named Kankuamo marquezi, likes to get really close to its foes. Instead of releasing a flying cloud of sharp hairs in to the air, it stabs its butt’s bristled hairs into its enemy&#8217;s body directly, according to the study published in the journal ZooKeys. In fact, the new tarantula’s defense hair and genitalia are so unique that the spider belongs to a completely new genus, the scientists say. The new tarantula stabs its butt’s bristled hairs into its enemy directly instead of releasing a flying cloud of sharp hairs into the air as many other tarantulas do. Photo by Dirk Weinmann. The team from universities in Uruguay and Colombia has named the spider’s genus Kankuamo, in reference to a group of indigenous people of the Chibcha family from the Caribbean region of Colombia that live on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Their language and culture are currently at risk of extinction, the authors write. The scientists have named the spider’s species, marquezi, after famous Colombian writer, Gabriel García Márquez, winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/new-tarantula-named-after-nobel-laureate-gabriel-garcia-marquez/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-187424</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>7 new brilliantly-colored peacock spiders discovered</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/7-new-brilliantly-colored-peacock-spiders-discovered/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/7-new-brilliantly-colored-peacock-spiders-discovered/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jun 2016 08:37:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/06/01201416/M-Bubo-486x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=187102</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Arachnids, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Invertebrates, Species Discovery, Spiders, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Remember Sparklemuffin and Skeletorus, two vividly colored peacock spiders that became Internet sensations last year? Now, researchers have discovered and named seven new species of these colorful tiny arachnids in Australia. The discoveries boost the total number of known peacock spiders to 48, researchers write in a new study published in the journal Peckhamia. The status [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Remember Sparklemuffin and Skeletorus, two vividly colored peacock spiders that became Internet sensations last year? Now, researchers have discovered and named seven new species of these colorful tiny arachnids in Australia. The discoveries boost the total number of known peacock spiders to 48, researchers write in a new study published in the journal Peckhamia. The status of an additional 16 species is yet to be confirmed, they add. Known only from Australia, peacock spiders are miniscule, measuring just a few millimeters in length. Despite being tiny, these spiders have very elaborate dance moves that they use to attract mates. Just like a male peacock that spreads and vibrates its striking tail of long iridescent feathers to charm a peahen, a male peacock spider unfurls its brilliantly-hued tail flap, vibrates its abdomen and lifts its legs alternately in an enticing dance routine to attract a partner. Photographer and biologist Jürgen C. Otto, and spider expert David Knowles, discovered six of the seven newly described spiders in the southern coast of Western Australia and South Australia in 2015. “These new discoveries give me hope that there are still more out there, in particular in that part of the continent,&#8221; Otto told Mongabay. Newly discovered Maratus vespa is named after the patterns on its back that resembles a wasp. Photo by Jürgen C. Otto. Following the discoveries, Otto, and co-author David Hill, named the new species based on how they looked or where they had been discovered. For example, they named the first species they discovered — Maratus vespa&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/7-new-brilliantly-colored-peacock-spiders-discovered/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-187102</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Australia announces a new spider species called &#8216;Brian&#8217;</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/03/australia-announces-a-new-spider-species-called-brian/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/03/australia-announces-a-new-spider-species-called-brian/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2016 15:44:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/03/01221349/spider-440x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Environment, Herps, Invasive Species, Invertebrates, Species Discovery, Spiders, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Brian pushes off from the rock wall, surfing along the pool&#8217;s surface before plunging into its depths. Legs outstretched, Brian seizes a fish and swims quickly under a rock to consume it, eight eyes alert for predators while quick mouthparts make short work of the prey. Unlike most Brians, this Brian isn&#8217;t a human. No, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Brian pushes off from the rock wall, surfing along the pool&#8217;s surface before plunging into its depths. Legs outstretched, Brian seizes a fish and swims quickly under a rock to consume it, eight eyes alert for predators while quick mouthparts make short work of the prey. Unlike most Brians, this Brian isn&#8217;t a human. No, Brian is the nickname of a species of water spider discovered recently in the northern Australian state of Queensland and announced yesterday at the World Science Festival in Brisbane. Brian&#8217;s proper name is Dolomedes briangreenei, given in honor of prominent U.S. physicist Brian Greene due to of their common interest: waves. Brian the spider uses waves to find prey and navigate its world, while Brian the physicist uses waves to study the universe. &#8220;With the announcement last month of humankind’s first detection of gravitational waves — ripples on the surface of space and time — I am particularly honored to be so closely associated with a spider that has its own deep affinity for waves,” said Greene, who is a professor at Columbia University. Male Brian spiders (Dolomedes briangreenei) have broad, white stripes along the sides of their heads while females like this one have narrower, tan stripes. Photo courtesy of the Queensland Museum. Dolomedes briangreenei is a large, dark spider about the size of the palm of a hand. It hunts by waiting at the water&#8217;s edge, feeling for disturbances that indicate something may be moving nearby. Not only can D. briangreenei swim underwater&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/03/australia-announces-a-new-spider-species-called-brian/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-182937</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Meet the new spider named after Johnny Cash</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/02/meet-the-new-spider-named-after-johnny-cash/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/02/meet-the-new-spider-named-after-johnny-cash/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Feb 2016 16:43:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/02/02180923/107937_web-465x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Invertebrates, Pet Trade, Species Discovery, Spiders, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Tarantulas in the genus Aphonopelma are some of the most unique spiders in the United States, but it turns out they haven’t been the subject of too much scientific inquiry. For instance, according to the results of a decade-long study by biologists at Auburn University and Millsaps College, the results of which have been published [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Tarantulas in the genus Aphonopelma are some of the most unique spiders in the United States, but it turns out they haven’t been the subject of too much scientific inquiry. For instance, according to the results of a decade-long study by biologists at Auburn University and Millsaps College, the results of which have been published in the open-access journal ZooKeys, there are not, in fact, fifty or so different species of tarantulas in the US, as scientists previously believed. Many of those tarantulas were poorly defined and actually belonged to the same species, the Auburn and Millsaps biologists found. After studying nearly 3,000 specimens, they found there are just 29 species in the US — 14 of which are entirely new to science. &#8220;We often hear about how new species are being discovered from remote corners of the Earth, but what is remarkable is that these spiders are in our own backyard,&#8221; Auburn’s Dr. Chris Hamilton, a lead author of the study, said in a statement. &#8220;With the Earth in the midst of a sixth mass extinction, it is astonishing how little we know about our planet&#8217;s biodiversity, even for charismatic groups such as tarantulas.&#8221; This is an adult male of Aphonopelma johnnycashi from California. Photo by Dr. Chris A. Hamilton. One of the new species discovered by Hamilton and team has been named Aphonopelma johnnycashi after the legendary country artist, Johnny Cash, who passed away in 2003 at the age of 71. Dr. Hamilton said he came up with&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/02/meet-the-new-spider-named-after-johnny-cash/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-178272</doi>				</item>
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