New spider species named after curator | Danni Sherwood | Manchester Museum

Posted by
New spider species named after curator | Danni Sherwood | Manchester Museum Two newly described spider species have been named in honour of members of our Entomology team, recognising their support for spider research at the Museum. Colombiarachne dianae, a tarantula from the Chocó region of Colombia, is named after our Curator of Entomology, Diana Arzuza Buelvas. Titanidiops logunovi, a trapdoor spider from Galegu, Sudan, is named after Dmitri Logunov. The names were chosen by one of our favourite frequent visitors, the amazing spider researcher Danni Sherwood. As Danni put it: "It’s a small token of my appreciation for all the help you give me in Manchester!" It's a wonderful reminder that behind every scientific discovery is a community of people helping to make research possible. Congratulations to Diana and Dmitri on this very special honour! 

Polar bodies serve as a landmark for anteroposterior axis formation in spiders

Posted by

 


Polar bodies serve as a landmark for anteroposterior axis formation in spiders

Abstract

The early embryogenesis of many spiders involves the formation of a radially symmetric germ disc. While the cells of the rim of this germ disc develops into anterior structures, the center of the disc will form the posteriorly located segment addition zone of the embryo. Therefore, germ disc formation sets the anterior-posterior (AP) body axis of spider embryos. The early spider egg is a spherical structure with no apparent asymmetry. So far it is unclear if the placement of the germ disc is a predetermined or a stochastic process.
For this study, we have re-analyzed early spider embryogenesis and found a link between the position of the polar bodies and the formation of the germ disc. Using cell tracking and time-lapse recordings of live embryos injected with the live cell nuclear stain SPY555-DNA, we show that the germ disc forms opposite to the polar bodies. Our results suggest that germ disc formation in the common house spider Parasteatoda tepidariorum is not a stochastic but a pre-determined process. By analyzing germ disc formation in a basally branching cobweb spider and a curtain-web spider, we provide evidence that the initial process of germ disc placement might be conserved between araneomorph and mygalomorph spider species.
Wang, R., & Pechmann, M. (2025). Polar bodies serve as a landmark for anteroposterior axis formation in spiders. Developmental Biology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.12.006