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DO YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT SPIDERS?
Spiders are everywhere and South Africa has a very rich fauna. In 1997 a national survey “The South African National Survey of Arachnida” (SANSA) was initiated to document the Arachnida, and especially the spider fauna of South Africa. SANSA is an umbrella project dedicated to unify biodiversity research and information on spiders in South Africa and it is coordinated by a team at the Agricultural Research Council in collaboration with the South African National Biosystematics Institute. SANSA runs on a national basis with other institutions with an interest in the arachnid fauna participating.
The aims of SANSA are to describe new species and document the known fauna to be able to protect and conserve them and to determine their role in nature for sustainable use. As part of SANSA we are presently undertaking surveys in areas not previously sampled. All the information is fed into the SANSA database. We make information on the spiders available on our website and we try to increase awareness of the public through road shows, talks and lecture series, media releases, products such as CD’s, posters and books. We also do capacity building through the training of students and the public as well as the release of an electronic newsletter every three months.
SANSA has again illustrated that there is a great interest from the public in natural sciences. Numerous people ranging from school children to retired people have contacted us and asked to participate. If you want to participate please contact us as participation can takes place on different levels:
• Collecting: many people are interested in collecting specimens for
us. We provide the bottles and the know how, and they do the
collecting. Presently, material from >30 collectors is streaming in
from all over the country, providing us with much needed distribution
records and specimens. Other activities from the public include
participation in survey work in the field, and making farms and
reserves available for collecting purposes. All the collected material
is housed in the National Collection of Arachnida
• Photography: with the availability of modern digital cameras, many
more people are now taking photographs. There is great interest in
the on-line Virtual Museum of SANSA, and with 250 photographers
contributing, the images are streaming in on a daily basis. The
Virtual Museum started in 2007 with 283 species entries
represented by 600 photographs recorded in that year. In 2008 the
number increased to 619 species with 1200 images and in 2009,
820 species entries with 1600 images were recorded.
Not only are much needed images of the species and their distributions obtained, but also very important biological data on prey, web building, egg sac construction and mating behaviour become available from the photographs. Several photographers provide data on a daily or weekly basis and this has already resulted in the publication of several short research communications.
The Virtual Museum is also becoming an excellent identification tool for the public to use to learn more about spiders and other arachnids. Where to find us - go to www.arc.agric.za, see quick link SANSA and then VIRTUAL MUSEUM. Here you can search under the photographers name, the common name and scientific name of the spider
The excellent images have also become a very important photographic source for the series of guides that are planned for the South African arachnid fauna. So if you are a keen photographer and come across spiders and arachnids in your house, garden and field take a photo and forward it to me at DippenaarA@arc.agric.za. We only need the locality where the photo was taken, the date and photographer. We will provide you with the identification and short notes on their behaviour.
• Radio talks and other media: the interest in spiders resulted in a
record number of radio talks. During 2009 alone, 64 radio and one
TV programme were broadcast dealing with spiders and other
arachnids. Presently Radio Laeveld is broadcasting weekly on
Tuesday afternoons a spider talk, while spiders play an important
part in the RSG programme “Hoe verklaar jy dit?” Several reports on
spiders appeared in newspapers, and invitations were received from
universities, schools and societies to present lectures.
• Products: the interest in reading matter on the arachnids has also
increased during the last few years, and requests for the CD’s,
handbooks and posters available from the ARC have increased
during 2009. The poster series are especially popular, with the first
one printed already out of stock. You can also visit our African
Arachnida Database (www.arc.agric.za see quick link AFRAD). You
can now print a factsheet for you on all the spiders families richly
illustrated.
Spiders are probably the only “hairy-scary” that live with us in our houses. They are a fascinating group of animals and the more we know about them the better we will be able to respect and tolerate rate them
Contact: Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman at DippenaarA@arc.agric.za
Link:
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