2 February 2021
Dear colleagues,
We have started a research programme into the phylogeny, systematics, and biogeography of Dolomedes. Known as raft, fishing, water spiders etc., their distribution is nearly global, with species richness hotspots in East Asia and the Pacific. For his doctoral thesis, Kuang-Ping Yu will focus on these spiders and their outgroups, analyzing their morphology as well as producing a molecular phylogeny. This research builds on an ongoing international collaboration on Dolomedes biology with current partners in North America, Europe, Asia, and New Zealand.
We would value more partners that can help us obtain specimens and/or data from these and other regions. One to several individual Dolomedes representatives (or their close relatives) preserved in absolute ethanol and ideally representing both sexes, would be appreciated from anywhere. Larger samples that could potentially shed more genetic and morphological structure within or between species would be even better, and could trigger new research collaborations. We can arrange for covering the costs of shipping, and can return the specimens upon examination to public collections of your choice.
If you can provide any assistance in specimen acquisition, please contact either of us:
Kuang-Ping Yu (Kuang-Ping.Yu@nib.si)
Matjaž Kuntner (Matjaz.Kuntner@nib.si)