Araneae
No. of jars: 6270
No. of species: 2100
Types: 822
The spider collection at LIB comprises more than 6000 jars and 2100 species and is both world-renowned and highly valuable. It is extremely rich in type material, with many species described by pioneering zoologists such as Eduard Graf von Keyserling und Ludwig Koch in the mid- and late 19thcentury. Many specimens originally belonged to the former Museum Godeffroy which existed in Hamburg from 1861 to 1885, but were integrated into the LIB collection after this museum was demolished.
Centrepieces of the collection are more than 250 species of jumping- and 150 wolf spider species, with types primarily from the Australian and Pacific bioregions. Orb-weaving spiders are represented with more than 370 species and crab spiders with 180 species. Some types are extremely valuable because they were amongst the first spiders to be described in the 18th century when taxonomy first emerged as a scientific discipline. Biogeographically, the focus of this collection is in the Australasian region where many species were collected during early fauna expeditions. Recent acquisitions have also added new material from Europe. Overall, this spider collection is a major and unique resource for systematic research and frequently consulted by arachnologists overseas.
To the catalogue:
- Rack, G., 1961: Die Entomologischen Sammlungen des Zoologischen Staatsinstituts und Zoologischen Museums Hamburg, II. Teil, Chelicerata II: Araneae. - Mitt. hamb. zool. Mus. Inst., 59: 1-60. [ PDF ]