A Remarkable Discovery: Exploring a Rare Eresus and Spider Wasp Interaction

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  Photo Credit: © Antonino Rametta . All photographs are used with permission. No part of these images may be reproduced, distributed, or used in any form without the prior written permission of the photographer. A Remarkable Discovery: Exploring a Rare Eresus and Spider Wasp Interaction One of the most rewarding aspects of maintaining Arácnido Taxonomy is hearing from naturalists and photographers around the world who take the time to share their discoveries. Every so often, an email arrives that immediately captures your attention. Not because it claims to rewrite what we know about biodiversity, but because it documents something that very few people have the opportunity to witness. Recently, I was contacted by a naturalist in Sicily who shared a series of exceptionally high-quality photographs of a female ladybird spider ( Eresus ) during what appeared to be an interaction with a spider wasp. Along with the images came a simple question: "Could this be scientifically import...

Hombre del renacimiento: the contributions of Luis F. de Armas to arachnology, herpetology, entomology, carcinology, and myriapodology

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Hombre del renacimiento: the contributions of Luis F. de Armas to arachnology, herpetology, entomology, carcinology, and myriapodology

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Luis F. de Armas is a world-renowned arachnologist, but also an experienced herpetologist, entomologist, carcinologist, and myriapodologist (e.g., Fig. 2). One may wonder how a colleague can be an indefatigable polymath during the era of academic ‘specialisation’ The answer to this can be found by asking any researcher who knows and works with Luis. His encyclopaedic knowledge of the natural world has been an ever-present force in his life and has been coupled with his admirable work ethic and, above all, his love of collaborating with other people. Through his knowledge and collaborative spirit, he has achieved what many of us have not, a career surpassing now half a century which has produced a consistent flow of more than 500 publications (Pérez-González et al. 2025). The number continues to rise, as Luis remains active in research into his eighth decade. We can only hope this rings true for many years to come.

Contributions to arachnology Luis F. de Armas (b. 1945) is one of Latin America’s most esteemed arachnologists. Best known is his work on the scorpions of Latin America, especially those of the Caribbean and Mesoamerica. However, particularly on, but not restricted to, Cuba and the Dominican Republic he has advanced many publications on amblypygids, schizomids, solifugids, thelyphonids, and ricenulids. It is unsurprising given arachnids are Luis’ expertise that within these groups he was focused not only on taxonomy but also ecology, teratology, conservation, zoogeography, and several other fields.


Sherwood, Danniella. (2025). Hombre del renacimiento: the contributions of Luis F. de Armas to arachnology, herpetology, entomology, carcinology, and myriapodology. Zootaxa. 5563. 42-59. 10.11646/zootaxa.5563.1.5.