7 new speices described thanks to Questagame Conservation App

It's tiny, curious and defined by a brilliant white punctuation mark on its back.

And the so-called exclamation point spider could be one of the newest additions to Australia's growing jumping spider family.

It is one of seven undescribed species discovered by citizen scientists during a recent QuestaGame competition.

The Australian conservation app encourages players to contribute data about plants and animals they see.

Queensland Museum arachnid expert Dr Robert Whyte partnered with the app to help identify species captured by the public.

He described some of the latest finds as "very attractive".



Players unearthed a new fishing spider from Queensland's Tablelands region, nicknamed for its ability to detect small ripples on the water's surface to hunt its prey.

Someone from NSW's Central Coast collected four suspected new species, including another small black and brown jumping spider.

"They're not uncommon but they're completely undescribed and I don't think that anyone had even collected any before this citizen science stuff sprang up, so that's how important it is," Dr Whyte said.

"We need the human energy, we need the people power, and it is lucky that there are so many new things to find where people are."

He said citizen scientists did the grunt work by identifying common spiders, giving experts more time to investigate unusual specimens popping up on the database.

And if you happen to stumble across an unnamed species, it could end up with your name on it.

"I think this kind of game inspires a love of naming things, or at least finding out what their names are," Dr Whyte said.

More at source
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-05/seven-new-spider-species-discovered-by-gamers/9303710

Cass wrote:Reason 4,657 why I won’t visit Australia...JUMPING SPIDERS???? FAMILY??? THERE’S MORE THAN ONE KIND???

Maddog wrote:

Cass wrote:Reason 4,657 why I won’t visit Australia...JUMPING SPIDERS???? FAMILY??? THERE’S MORE THAN ONE KIND???

You have scorpions, and they are sneaky little bastards.

Cass wrote:

Maddog wrote:

You have scorpions, and they are sneaky little bastards.

I look very carefully before I step. Plus I have pest control every 2 months. But these are JUMPING SPIDERS!!!!

Ugh I can’t.

Maddog wrote:

Cass wrote:

I look very carefully before I step. Plus I have pest control every 2 months. But these are JUMPING SPIDERS!!!!

Ugh I can’t.

Pest control?


That's where your food allergies started.  

Cass wrote:

Maddog wrote:

Pest control?


That's where your food allergies started.  

I have one food allergy and a few environmental that happened wayyyyy before I got pest control.

BUT THIS IS JUMPING SPIDERS.

No more. I’m off to play candy crush and then read. And god willing not have any nightmares. Between this and the penis thread...

Cass wrote:Reason 4,657 why I won’t visit Australia...JUMPING SPIDERS???? FAMILY??? THERE’S MORE THAN ONE KIND???

Australia has around 4,000 described spider species, but Dr Whyte said that number could double if enough people started searching their backyards and gardens.

"I'm pretty sure I could find a new species in somebody's backyard if it was reasonably close to bush, within half an hour."

Cass wrote:

Maddog wrote:

You have scorpions, and they are sneaky little bastards.

I look very carefully before I step. Plus I have pest control every 2 months. But these are JUMPING SPIDERS!!!!

Ugh I can’t.

WhoseYourWolfie wrote:

Let Cass and eddie loose in my backyard --  they could have a jolly little spider hunting expedition...

Aah, Australia..   My Australia.

If the spiders or sharks or crocodiles don't get you,  there's always the trees..

http://christiantoday.com.au/news/widow-makers-the-danger-of-gum-tree-branches-falling.html

(Having witnessed a gigantic limb fall off a Spotted Gum during a storm, I know the 'widowmakers' are fact, and not simply another convenient fantasy to scare tourists with..).