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Spiders from Papua New Guinea | letter from Wayne | gallery | background | more info and FAQs
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Wayne Maddison is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in the
Zoology and Botany departments at the University of British Columbia,
and Director of the Beaty Biodiversity Museum. His early interest in
spider diversity led to a research career that has taken him from the
jungles of South America, Africa and Australasia, to the innards of
complex computer programs that look for the echoes of evolutionary
history in data from living species.
To find out more about Dr. Maddison's work, visit his lab website.
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Conservation International is a nonprofit organization with a global focus, which seeks to conserve what remains of our natural heritage in harmony with human societies.
Learn more about Conservation International through their website.
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The spider family Salticidae is a charismatic group of mostly small spiders with big eyes.
They are not web builders, instead using their excellent eyesight to
stalk their prey much like tigers do. The males also perform elaborate
mating dances, where they wave their legs and pedipalps in the air in an
attempt to convince females that they would make a good mate (video). Salticids exhibit a vast diversity of body forms, with some species mimicking ants, beetles, or pseudoscorpions. Salticids are also known as Jumping Spiders, due to their ability to jump incredible distances in relation to their size.
For more about this fascinating family, see Dr. Maddison's contribution to the Tree of Life project on the Salticidae.
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