Arachnology Department
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Staff Head of Department: Mr L.N. Lotz Research Assistant: Ms S. Otto Research in the Arachnology Department is concentrated on the medically important spiders (genus Latrodectus in the family Theridiidae; genera Cheiracanthium and Cheiramiona in the family Miturgidae; and the genera Loxosceles and Sicarius in the family Sicariidae) of the Afrotropical Region, but research is also carried out on spider biodiversity and rare forest spiders (genera Archaea and Afrarchaea in the family Archeaidae). SANSA (South African National Survey of Arachnida) projects: The collection of the Arachnology Department started as a subsection of the Entomology Department in 1982, but became a full department in 2003. The collection at the moment comprises ca. 26 000 specimens. These are mostly arachnids (not Acari), but other invertebrates are also included to a lesser extent (Myriapoda, Mollusca and Crustacea). The specimens are almost all from the Republic of South Africa and have been collected all over the country. |
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Last updated 16 September 2005