New Publication: Hybridisation in the Tarantula Hobby

Posted by
  New Publication: Hybridisation in the Tarantula Hobby I am pleased to share the publication of my latest paper, “Hybridisation in the Tarantula Hobby: Ethical Boundaries and Biological Consequences,” in the Journal of the British Tarantula Society , Volume 41, No. 1, September 2026. The paper addresses an issue that deserves serious consideration within the tarantula community: hybridisation and its potential long-term effects on the integrity of captive lineages. More Than a Breeding Decision The tarantula hobby has changed considerably over the past several decades. What was once a relatively small community has grown into an international network of keepers, breeders, vendors, researchers, and societies. Captive breeding has contributed enormously to that growth, improving husbandry knowledge and increasing the availability of captive-bred animals. With that success comes responsibility for the lineages we maintain. Hybridisation may seem like an isolated breeding experiment,...

Description of five new Aname L. Koch, 1873 (Araneae, Anamidae) species collected on Bush Blitz expeditions

Posted by

 


Description of five new Aname L. Koch, 1873 (Araneae, Anamidae) species collected on Bush Blitz expeditions

ABSTRACT

Aname L. Koch, 1873 is an incredibly diverse genus of mygalomorph spiders endemic to Australia, occurring from coast to coast in tropical, semi-arid and arid bioregions. They are relatively gracile mygalomorph spiders that build open burrows, sometimes with a secondary entrance that functions as an escape chute. The genus currently contains 48 species, but the true diversity is likely to be closer to 200 species. Here we describe five new species (A. ningaloo sp. nov., A. salina sp. nov., A. tatarnici sp. nov., A. tenuipes sp. nov. and A. wongalara sp. nov.), primarily based on specimens collected on Bush Blitz expeditions in Western Australia (Cape Range, 2019), South Australia (Great Victoria Desert, 2017) and the Northern Territory (Wongalara, 2012). We complement these descriptions with a molecular phylogenetic analysis to place all new species into an existing phylogenetic framework.

Wilson, J. D., Rix, M. G., & Harvey, M. S. (2023). Description of five new Aname L. Koch, 1873 (Araneae, Anamidae) species collected on Bush Blitz expeditions. European Journal of Taxonomy, 890(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2023.890.2247