The Baboon Spider Atlas – using citizen science and the ‘fear factor’ to map baboon spider (Araneae: Theraphosidae) diversity and distributions in Southern Africa

Abstract

Charismatic invertebrates are popular subjects for citizen science but it is harder to engage the public in research on animals that are perceived as dangerous. Many successful citizen science projects exist in North America and Europe, but with the increased use of new technologies and social media, there is a greater capacity to expand citizen science to less developed regions. Baboon spiders are African members of the tarantula family. They are threatened by habitat loss and illegal harvesting for the pet trade, and conservation efforts are hampered by a lack of knowledge on their ecology. Here, we describe the Baboon Spider Atlas, a project combining traditional research with citizen science to map the diversity and distributions of baboon spiders (Araneae: Theraphosidae) in Southern Africa. Our project embraces the ‘fear factor’ associated with spiders to obtain photographic records from the public. The Baboon Spider Atlas has assembled the largest database of information on baboon spiders in Southern Africa and is providing novel insights into their biology. Distribution ranges have been extended and potential new species discovered. Preliminary results suggest that their distribution may be limited more by cold, wet climatic conditions than hot, dry conditions. Records for wandering adult females and immatures highlight a previously undocumented behaviour and challenges the notion that baboon spiders are sedentary animals. Ultimately, the project is generating the data needed for effective conservation and motivating further research that will provide a better understanding of baboon spider biology.

Mapping species distributions in 2 weeks using citizen science

“…These problems result in data that are patchy (Maldonado et al ., ) and often biased towards charismatic groups attractive to the public, for example the Big Garden Birdwatch (Lewandowski & Specht, ). Despite taxonomic biases, there are examples of citizen science approaches on non‐charismatic taxa such as spiders (Campbell & Engelbrecht, ; Hart et al ., ; Wang et al ., ) and beetles (Zapponi et al ., ), and producing valid ecological insights (Pocock et al ., ; Hart et al ., ). Overall, it is not always straightforward to assess the validity of citizen science data since high‐quality data sets for direct comparison are rarely available (Kamp et al ., ; Dennis et al ., ).…”

“…Despite taxonomic biases, there are examples of citizen science approaches on non-Correspondence: Seirian Sumner, Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. E-mail: s.sumner@ucl.ac.uk charismatic taxa such as spiders (Campbell & Engelbrecht, 2018;Hart et al, 2018b;Wang et al, 2018) and beetles (Zapponi et al, 2017), and producing valid ecological insights (Pocock et al, 2017a;Hart et al, 2018b). Overall, it is not always straightforward to assess the validity of citizen science data since high-quality data sets for direct comparison are rarely available (Kamp et al, 2016;Dennis et al, 2017).…”

Tarantulas of Australia: phylogenetics and venomics

“…genes did not present any ambiguous alignment when the deeper clades were analysed separately. (Campbell & Engelbrecht, 2018;Kotzman, 1990;Stradling, 1994). Climate variables were chosen based on extreme factors as well as season and overall patterns.…”

“…Rainfall period is well known to influence mating season of tarantulas (Campbell & Engelbrecht, 2018;Ferretti, Pérez-Miles, & González, 2010). Mating seasonality of AMC and AEC can be addresses in future studies which could explain geographic limitations of both clades based on behavioural aspects of the spiders and climate factors.…”

“…Those two ecoregions are not only differentiated by the amount of rainfall but also by summer-winter precipitation patterns (Burbidge, 1960). Rainfall seasonality is well known to influence mating season of American tarantulas (Campbell & Engelbrecht, 2018;Ferretti, Pérez-Miles, & González, 2010) and it could be the driver that restricts each clade in each ecoregion in Australia.…”